Edward W. Morley
Edward W. Morley | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | February 24, 1923 | (aged 85)
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Williams College |
Known for | Michelson–Morley experiment Fine structure |
Spouse |
Imbella A. Birdsall
(m. 1888; died 1922) |
Awards | Elliott Cresson Medal (1912) Davy Medal (1907) Willard Gibbs Award (1917) |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | Western Reserve College Western Reserve University |
Special relativity |
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Edward Williams Morley (January 29, 1838 – February 24, 1923) was an American scientist known for his precise and accurate measurement of the atomic weight of oxygen, and for the Michelson–Morley experiment.
Biography
Morley was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Anna Clarissa Treat and the Reverend Sardis Brewster Morley. Both parents were of early colonial ancestry and of purely British origin. He grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut. During his childhood, he suffered much from ill health and was therefore educated by his father at home until the age of nineteen.[1]
In 1857 Morley entered Williams College at Williamstown, Massachusetts, his father's alma mater. He received his A.B. in 1860 and his master's degree in 1863. Around 1860 he gradually shifted his attention from chemistry, which fascinated him since he was child, to optics and astronomy. In 1860–61 he mounted a transit instrument, constructed a chronograph, and made the first accurate determination of the latitude of the college observatory. This determination was the subject of his first published paper, which was read before the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1866.[1]
Upon advice of his parents, Morley entered Andover Theological Seminary in 1861, finishing in 1864. It was here, probably, that he acquired a good working knowledge of Hebrew. From 1866 to 1868 he was a teacher in a private school and later, in 1868, he was called to preach in a small country parish in
During his residence in Cleveland, Morley assembled one of the best private collections of chemical periodicals in the United States. He even included Russian journals and learned enough of the Russian language to use them. After his retirement from teaching, the university purchased his library and relocated to the chemical laboratory named after him. In 1906, he moved to West Hartford, Connecticut, where he built a small house and a laboratory for his personal studies of rocks and minerals.[1]
Morley was a prolific author; he published 55 articles. He outlived his wife by only a few months and, following a surgical operation, died in the Hartford Hospital in 1923.[1]
Research
Optics and astronomy
Morley's most-significant work came in the field of physics and optics. In this, he collaborated with and assisted the physicist Albert A. Michelson for several years around 1887. They set up, executed, and improved their techniques many times in what we call the Michelson–Morley experiment. This involved making more and more accurate measurements of the speed of light in various directions, and at different times of the year, as the Earth revolved in its orbit around the Sun. These careful measurements were created to measure the differences in the speed of light in different directions. Michelson and Morley always found that the speed of light did not vary at all depending on the direction of measurement, or the position of the Earth in its orbit, deducing what we call a "null result" for their speed-of-light experiments.[2]
Neither he nor Michelson ever considered that these null results disproved the hypothesis of the existence of "
However, other scientists did come to the conclusion that the
Morley also collaborated with Dayton Miller on positive aether experiments after his work with Michelson.[2] Morley himself made measurements of the speed of light when it passes through a strong magnetic field. He also studied the thermal expansion of solid materials.
Chemistry
At Western Reserve College, Morley was required to teach, not only chemistry, but also geology and botany, leaving him little time for research. Nevertheless, he found time during the first ten years at Hudson to publish five articles, mostly on the accuracy of measurements.[1]
In chemistry, his original field, Morley had worked on determining accurate values for the
Honors
Morley was elected to the
The lunar crater Morley on the near side was named for him. The Morley Elementary School in West Hartford, Connecticut, was also named for him, as was the Morley Scientific Laboratory on the Williams College campus. His house in West Hartford was made a National Historic Landmark in 1975.
The Cleveland Section of the American Chemical Society (Cleveland-ACS) annually sponsors a regional award named in honor of Edward W. Morley, which consists of the Morley Medal in addition to a monetary honorarium. The purpose of this annual award by the Cleveland-ACS is to recognize contributions to chemistry through outstanding achievements in research, teaching, research administration, engineering, and public service. The contributions for which the award is given should have been made within about 250 miles of Cleveland, the research home of Edward W. Morley. Notable early awardees include Melvin S. Newman (1969) (known for Newman projections in organic chemistry), and Nobel Prize laureate George A. Olah in 1970. A list of all previous awardees to date is maintained by the ACS-Cleveland Section.
References
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
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- ^ "Edward W. Morley and the Atomic Weight of Oxygen". Archived from the original on 2012-07-20. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
- ^ "Edward Williams Morley". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 2023-02-09. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
- ^ "Willard Gibbs Award". American Chemical Society Chicago Section. Retrieved 7 April 2015.