Reference 1 Albert Abraham Michelson Life of Albert

Reference #1 Albert Abraham Michelson

Life of Albert Abraham Michelson Born in Poland on Dec 19, 1852 Family moved in 1855 to the US, and ended up in San Francisco At 17, he entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis Maryland (below average in seamanship) Graduated in 1873 and taught physics and chemistry at the academy from 75 -79 Cadet at the Naval Academy Reference #3

Various professorships at schools, went to Europe to study optics. When he returned he calculated c to be 299, 853 km s-1 He later bettered the measurement to be 299, 798 km s-1 He won the Nobel prize for his efforts to calculate c. 1889 -1929 head of the physics dept at the newly organized University of Chicago 1923 -1927 president of the National Academy of Sciences Died on May 9, 1931 in Pasadena California

Reference #2 1887 Reference #2 1928

Reference #5 Albert A. Michelson (center) with (left to right) M. L. Humason, Edwin Hubble, C. E. St. John, Albert Einstein, W. W. Campbell, and W. S. Adams

Accomplishments Michelson-Morley experiment to detect ether. 1890 – developed theory for interferometric observations of single and double stars. Suggested a telescope’s resolving power could be increased using external mirrors in an arrangement he called a stellar refractometer Was the first to accurately measure the size of a star. Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) – 300 times the diameter of the Sun Was the 1 st American to receive a Nobel Prize in Physics, 1907

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Reference #7 3 D Interferometer Applet

Famous Quotes Quotation from Michelson's address at the dedication ceremony for the Ryerson Physical Laboratory at the University of Chicago in 1894: "The more important fundamental laws and facts of physical science have all been discovered, and these are now so firmly established that the possibility of their ever being supplanted in consequence of new discoveries is exceedingly remote. . Our future discoveries must be looked for in the sixth place of decimals. " Albert Einstein praised Michelson shortly after he died. "My honored Dr. Michelson, it was you who led the physicists into new paths, and through your marvelous experimental work paved the way for the development of theory of relativity. “ “I doubt any scientific man does his work to render distinguished service. I think he does it because it is good fun. ” Michelson on May 16, 1923 during acceptance speech for the Franklin Medal.

Mighty Ether Has Struck Out Copyright 1996 David Arns The outlook wasn't brilliant for Al Michelson that day, The project he'd been working on just wouldn't go his way. With Morley, he'd been working on this simple apparatus To indicate the speed of Earth through ether's rigid lattice. You see, electromagnetism moves through outer space, And it moves, as had been proven, at an astronomic pace. And, of course, it was "self-evident, " and "every schoolboy knew" That wave motion needs a medium for it to vibrate through. The speed at which a wave proceeds depends on the rigidity Of the stuff it's going through, and hence, extreme rapidity Requires a medium strange indeed: it must be inelastic, While still allowing matter through--this stuff must be fantastic! So even though no evidence had ever been presented, The existence of this "ether" that the physics world invented Had so taken scientists by storm that no one ever thought The idea might be wrong, and it would shortly come to naught. Well, Michelson and Morley, they believed it like the rest,

And set about to prove its truth, and so conceived a test Which split a beam of light, and at right angles them aligned, To show the interference patterns when they recombined. So Michelson and Morley, they set up a granite slab, And floated it on mercury they'd gotten from the lab. They put a light source on the top, some mirrors, and a splitter; With bated breath, they lit the lamp, their eyes were all a-glitter. They looked upon the tiny screen at interference fringes (When a pair of out-of-phase beams on a screen impinges). But the fringes wouldn't shift at all, at that or any angle To which they turned their optics bench, their massive stone rectangle. This history-making failure was truly quite successful, Although for these two scientists, I'm sure 'twas very stressful. The lesson that I hope we've learned, as connoisseurs of science, Is that truth, and not assumptions, make with us the best alliance.

Bibliography 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) http: //scienceworld. wolfram. com/biography/pics/Michelson. jpg, 10/18/04 http: //wwwnt. if. pwr. wroc. pl/kwazar/nagrody. Nobla/112483/zycie. ht m, 10/18/04 http: //physics. nadn. navy. mil/physicshp. html, 10/18/04 http: //micro. magnet. fsu. edu/optics/timeline/people/antiqueimages/ michelson. jpg, 10/18/04 http: //www. usna. edu/Library/Physics. html, 10/18/04 http: //cip-lx 0. physik. unisiegen. de/~klose/beruehmt/morley_edward_small. jpg, 10/18/04 http: //www. upscale. utoronto. ca/General. Interest/Harrison/Spec. Rel/ Spec. Rel. html#MMExpt, 10/18/04 http: //nobelprize. org/physics/laureates/1907/michelson-bio. html, 10/18/04 http: //www. usna. edu/Lib. Exhibits/Michelson_intro. html, 10/18/04 By Natalie Valentine, adapted from an earlier presentation