Can Dimensionful Constants Have a Fundamental Meaning?
| Article | |
|---|---|
| Title | Can Dimensionful Constants Have a Fundamental Meaning? |
| Author(s) | Alexander Unzicker |
| Published in | Beyond Mainstream |
| Date | 2019-04-12 |
| Subject area | Physics |
| Topics | fundamental constants, aether, speed of light |
Read online | Read the full article |
Archived copy | Archived version |
| Retrieved | 2026-07-23 |
"Can Dimensionful Constants Have a Fundamental Meaning?" is an article by Alexander Unzicker published on 12 April 2019 on Beyond Mainstream.
Unzicker answers his own title in the affirmative, against the received view that only dimensionless constants can carry fundamental meaning. He accepts the starting observation — that the metre and the second are arbitrary, and that h, c and G are expressed in those arbitrary units — but argues the conclusion drawn from it is mistaken, and typical of a methodology in which calculating has replaced thinking. He points to the history of the subject, particularly Whittaker's A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity, and to the debate over a variable speed of light.