Science: Discovery in a Cellar

What pot of gold does science hope to discover at the end of the cosmic rainbow? There could be no bigger jackpot than a single theory which would wrap together, and neatly explain, the basic physical wonders of the universe. Einstein has groped part of the way toward the prize, with an attempt to unify the theories explaining gravitation and electromagnetism (TIME, Jan. 2). Last week the British journal Discovery reported that an eccentric English genius, dead a quarter-century, had produced another "unified field" theory which narrowly escaped rotting away, unrecognized, in a Welsh cellar.

In a Closed Room. Oliver Heaviside...

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