... This book tells about the history of the ether and how it looks in the view of a modern theoretical physicist... The fact is that there is no chance of properly understanding the fundamental properties of matter... without understanding the properties of the physical vacuum or ether. … The need to understand where the basic principles of physics come from and what they are, how difficult it was to “get” them, how difficult it is to change anything about them, is as integral an element of culture as familiarity with the most important facts in painting, literature, history... I hope that even in the absence of special training, the reader will be able to share with the author a deep sense of reverence for the beauty of the fundamental laws of nature and will pay tribute to the creative genius of specific, remarkable people, thanks to whom we now understand much. From the Preface