Chemist and physicist — Edward Williams Morley (Newark 1838 – West Hartford 1923) was an American chemist and physicist, celebrated for his extraordinary skill in precision measurement. He taught for many years at Western Reserve University in Ohio, devoting himself in particular to the accurate determination of atomic weights, above all that of oxygen. His name, however, is chiefly linked to the famous experiment carried out in 1887 together with Albert Michelson, in which the two attempted to measure the Earth’s motion relative to the hypothetical luminiferous ether. The negative result of the experiment, which revealed no ‘ether wind’, undermined the foundations of classical physics. That measurement paved the way for Einstein’s special relativity.
Curiosity
The Michelson–Morley experiment is often described as ‘the most famous failed experiment in the history of physics’, precisely because it was its striking null result, rather than a success, that changed science forever.
Theories and contributions
- Michelson–Morley experiment — The interferometer detected no fringe shifts due to the Earth’s motion through the ether, ruling out the existence of an ‘ether wind’.
Present in chapters
Linked atoms
3 linked atoms.