Edward Williams Morley (January 29, 1838 - February 24, 1923) was an American scientist famous for the Michelson-Morley experiment.
[edit] Early life
Morley was born in Newark, New Jersey and grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut. He graduated from Williams College in 1860.
[edit] Career
From 1869 to 1906 he was professor of chemistry at Western Reserve College (which was federated into today's Case Western Reserve University).
His best remembered work, which he did together with Albert Abraham Michelson in 1887, was the Michelson–Morley experiment. Neither he nor Michelson ever considered that it disproved the aether hypothesis. However, others did, and it ultimately led to Einstein's theory of relativity. Morley also worked with Dayton Miller on positive aether experiments after his work with Michelson.
Morley also worked on the oxygen composition of the atmosphere, thermal expansion, and the velocity of light in a magnetic field.
[edit] Honors
Morley was president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1895) and president of the American Chemical Society (1899). Morley won the Davy Medal of the Royal Society of London (1907) and the Elliott Cresson Medal (1912) awarded by the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania for important contributions to Chemical Science. Willard Gibbs Medal of the Chicago Section of the American Chemical Society (1899).
The lunar crater Morley was named for him. The Morley Elementary School in West Hartford was also named for him. His home in West Hartford was made a National Historic Landmark in 1975.
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