The medium of electromagnetic waves

Question

I'm just wondering if anyone else has ever pondered the question: what medium do electromagnetic waves travel through? and like me remained unsatisfied with the explanation that they are 'non-mechanical' waves and thus don't require a medium.

Is there someone who can explain the difference between us observing they don't require a medium vs us not observing a medium and thus concluding they don't require one?

I’m voting to close this question because it belongs to the History of Science site. It's a very old and well-known question that was discussed in the 19th century. — Miyase, Mar 24 '23 at 14:16
I’m voting to close this question because it belongs to history of science https://hsm.stackexchange.com — anna v, Mar 24 '23 at 14:30
This is on topic. Here is an answer - In what medium are non-mechanical waves a disturbance? The aether? — mmesser314, Mar 24 '23 at 14:34

Vangi · Answer 1 · 2023-03-24T14:00:13.530

Initially the propagation of light was approached through the classical physics point of view - the medium was called luminiferous aether (wiki). You will see there have been several experiments trying to determine any effect that the movement of the Earth through this aether has on the propagation of light in different directions. The modern view of light propagation is that it does require a medium - the electromagnetic field.

The medium of electromagnetic waves

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