biography
| name: |
Morley, Edward Williams
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1838–1923)
|
| biography:
| Chemist and physicist, born in Newark, New Jersey, USA. He taught at Western Reserve University (1869–1906). His important contributions came through his genius in making new instruments for the precise measurements required in modern science. With one of these he was able to measure accurately the oxygen content of the atmosphere (1870s), and he later determined the atomic weight of oxygen relative to hydrogen in forming water. He also made a new manometer to measure the thermal expansion of air and its constituent gases, and worked with A A Michelson in developing the interferometer they used to measure lengths in terms of the wavelengths of light. The so-called Michelson–Morley experiment (1887) led to the refutation of the ether hypothesis and contributed to Einstein's theory of relativity. |
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