ether vs Aether?

Question

my 1964 text book spells it ether, where did the A come from on later spelling? Why is a silent A needed here?

Answer 1

They are two different things. Ethers are a class of chemical compounds, while aether refers to several theoretical entities that have been proposed throughout the history of science.

Ethers, the class of compounds, contain an atomic group that is itself also called ether, and consists of an oxygen atom and two alkyl groups. They are slightly polar and have low boiling points. They are not very chemically reactive. Some well-known ethers are dimethyl ether, an aerosol spray propellant, and polyethylene glycol, which serves as the base for many cosmetic and medical products.

Aether is a concept from classical science, which has been proposed alternately as an fifth element (as fire, earth, air, and water) that embodied energy, or as an entity in the supposed vacuum of space, as a medium through which light would travel. The idea of aether has significant overlap with that of quintessence, which is also theoretical.

Aether is also sometimes used as an alternate spelling for ether, but it is rare.

Answer 2

Ether Aether

Answer 3

In its original Latin, it is spelled:
Æther

with the Æ ligature. There are a lot of words English took from Latin with that ligature, like the volcano, "Mount Ætna," or the "encyclopædia." Nowadays these words are mostly spelled with just the E, but either way could be considered correct.

Answer 4

Aethe was the way it was spelled in the 1800's. Neither one exists so it's academic.