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The designer of this machine is the Michelson of Michelson-Morley, Nobel prize 1907; his interferometer was a brilliant apparatus that disproved the aether hypo
by saretired 12y ago
The designer of this machine is the Michelson of Michelson-Morley, Nobel prize 1907; his interferometer was a brilliant apparatus that disproved the aether hypothesis. I'm surprised the blurb for the book doesn't mention who he was.
- cbd1984 12y agoProbably the publication bias against negative results. /s
- InclinedPlane 12y agoThe fascinating thing about the Michelson-Morley interferometer experiment is that they were attempting to validate the aether hypothesis, and measure the Earth's absolute velocity relative to the aether. Instead they failed to do so, and the experiment showed that the speed of light is the same in all directions relative to all observers regardless of motion. A quite shocking and non-intuitive result that served as a foundation for the theory of relativity. Even today most non-scientists do not understand or appreciate this result, they still operate within a mental model of the universe involving absolute frames of reference.
- maaku 12y agoExplaining the Michelson-Morley experiment required assuming a constant speed of light regardless of relative velocity, combined with old-school frame agnosticism. Of course making this intuitive leap is what led Einstein to special relativity (Lorentz had already provided the math). To experimental physicists, these unsung heros deserve just as much credit ;)