▁intervals , ▁while ▁abandon ing ▁the ▁absolute ▁simultane ity ▁of ▁Gal ile an ▁kin emat ics , ▁thus ▁avoid ing ▁the ▁need ▁for ▁any ▁reference ▁to ▁a ▁l umin ifer ous ▁a ether ▁in ▁classical ▁elect rod ynam ics . ▁Sub sequ ent ▁work ▁of ▁Hermann ▁M ink owski , ▁in ▁which ▁he ▁introduced ▁a ▁ 4 - dimensional ▁geometric ▁" sp ac etime " ▁model ▁for ▁Ein stein ' s ▁version ▁of ▁special ▁relativ ity , ▁p aved ▁the ▁way ▁for ▁Ein stein ' s ▁later ▁development ▁of ▁his ▁general ▁theory ▁of ▁relativ ity ▁and ▁laid ▁the ▁found ations ▁of ▁relativ istic ▁field ▁theories . ▁ ▁A ether ▁and ▁elect rod ynam ics ▁of ▁moving ▁bodies ▁ ▁A ether ▁models ▁and ▁Max well ' s ▁equations ▁Following ▁the ▁work ▁of ▁Thomas ▁Young ▁( 1 8 0 4 ) ▁and ▁August in - Jean ▁F res nel ▁( 1 8 1 6 ), ▁it ▁was ▁believed ▁that ▁light ▁propag ates ▁as ▁a ▁trans verse ▁wave ▁within ▁an ▁el astic ▁medium ▁called ▁l umin ifer ous ▁a ether . ▁However , ▁a ▁distinction ▁was ▁made ▁between ▁optical ▁and ▁elect rod ynam ical ▁phen omena ▁so ▁it ▁was ▁necessary ▁to ▁create ▁specific ▁a ether ▁models ▁for ▁all ▁phen omena . ▁Att empt s ▁to ▁un ify ▁those ▁models ▁or ▁to ▁create ▁a ▁complete ▁mechanical ▁description ▁of ▁them ▁did ▁not ▁succeed , ▁but ▁after ▁considerable ▁work ▁by ▁many ▁scient ists , ▁including ▁Michael ▁Far ad ay ▁and ▁Lord ▁Kel vin , ▁James ▁C ler k ▁Max