Special Issue: Centennial of the Michelson—Morley Experiment

A century ago Albert A. Michelson, a young physicist at the Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, Ohio, and Edward Morley, a physical chemist at neighboring Western Reserve University, performed an experiment to measure the speed of the Earth through the “luminiferous æther”—the medium whose oscillations were supposed to give rise to light, among other effects. The experiment was an outgrowth of work involving optical interferometry, which was to be the focus of much of Michelson’s career.

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