  We examine the construction of electromagnetism in its current form, and in
an alternative form, from a point of view that combines a minimal realism with
strict demands of reason that we first introduce. We follow the historical
development as presented in the record of original publications, the underlying
epistemology (often explained by the authors) and the mathematical
constructions. The historical construction develops along socio-political
disputes (mainly, the reunification of Germany and the second industrial
revolution), epistemic disputes (at least two demarcations of science in
conflict) and several theories of electromagnetism. Such disputes resulted in
the militant adoption of the ether by some, a position that expanded in
parallel with the expansion of Prussia, but was facilitated by the earlier
adoption of a standpoint that required physical hypothesis in the form of
analogies as condition for understanding, antithetic to Newton's
"\emph{hypotheses non fingo}". ...
