FABIO MORALES NAMURA

It is very common to associate the theory of relativity with a profound scientific revolution. On the other hand, the theory of special relativity is seen as the nemesis of the infamous theories of the ether - the main object of study of this project. This substance was attributed fundamental value for certain phenomena in nature. Until the beginning of the 20th century, many scientists developed and built conceptions with the aim of "capturing" the imponderable substance in terms of laws. As far as we know, this research programme completely lost its value, fell into disuse and became extinct in the course of the new images formed since the Einstein revolution. In opposition to this relativistic idea of nature, the author of the theory himself, Einstein, in a lecture in 1920 at the University of Leiden, Holland, did not consider himself completely averse to the idea of an ether for physics postulations. According to him, "further reflection teaches us that the discontinuity of the ether is not necessarily required by the special principle of relativity. One can accept the existence of an ether" (EINSTEIN, 1920, p. 9).