wrote:
... the ether that was banished from normal
scientific thought by Einstein in 1905 after publishing the Special
Theory.

Continuing quotes from Einstein:
http://www.tu-harburg.de/rzt/rzt/it/Ether.html

"What is fundamentally new in the ether of the general theory
of relativity as opposed to the ether of Lorentz consists in
this, that the state of the former is at every place determined
by connections with the matter and the state of the ether in
neighbouring places, which are amenable to law in the form of
differential equations,; whereas the state of the Lorentzian
ether in the absence of electromagnetic fields is conditioned
by nothing outside itself, and is everywhere the same. The ether
of the general theory of relativity is transmuted conceptually
into the ether of Lorentz if we substitute constants for the
functions of space which describe the former, disregarding the
causes which condition its state. Thus we may also say, I think,
that the ether of the general theory of relativity is the outcome
of the Lorentzian ether, through relativation."

"Recapitulating, we may say that according to the general theory of
relativity space is endowed with physical qualities; in this sense,
therefore, there exists an ether. According to the general theory of
relativity space without ether is unthinkable; for in such space there
not only wonld be no propagation of light, but also no possibility of
existence for standards of space and time (measuring-rods and clocks),
nor therefore any space-time intervals in the physical sense."

So much for the ether being banished by Einstein. What is it about
Einstein's words, "the ether of the general theory of relativity",
that you do not understand?
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com