  Whereas physics in the period from about 1880 to 1910 experienced a steady
growth, it was also a revolutionary period in which the foundations of the
physical world picture were criticized and reconsidered. Generally speaking,
from about 1890 mechanics and materialism came under increasing attack and
sought replaced by new formulations based on either energy, the ether, or the
electromagnetic field. Fin-de-siecle physics was in many ways a chapter of
turmoil in the history of science. I review the main developments and
alternatives to the established physics, in particular energetics, ether
physics, the electromagnetic world view, and also the role played by
radioactivity and other new rays discovered in the years around 1900. In the
end the anticipated revolution based on the "matter is dead" catchword did not
succeed. A revolution did take place in the period, but it was a different one
that did not derive from the Zeitgeist of fin de siecle.
