Edward williams morley biography template
Edward W. Morley
19/20th-century American scientist
For the Australian politician, see Edward Morley (politician).
Edward Williams Morley (January 29, – February 24, ) was an American scientist known for his precise and accurate measurement of the atomic weight of oxygen, and for the Michelson–Morley experiment.
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Morley was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Anna Clarissa Treat and the Reverend Sardis Brewster Morley. Both parents were of first 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 Morley entered Williams College at Williamstown, Massachusetts, his father's alma mater.
Edward Williams Morley (born Jan. 29, , Newark, N.J., U.S.—died Feb. 24, , West Hartford, Conn.) was an American chemist who is best known for his collaboration with the physicist A.A. Michelson in an attempt to measure the relative motion of the Earth through a hypothetical ether.
He received his A.B. in and his master's degree in Around he gradually shifted his attention from chemistry, which fascinated him since he was kid, to optics and astronomy. In –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 study before the American Association for the Advancement of Science in [1]
Upon advice of his parents, Morley entered Andover Theological Seminary in , finishing in It was here, probably, that he acquired a good working learning of Hebrew.
From to he was a teacher in a private school and later, in , he was called to preach in a small territory parish in Ohio. At about the same time, he was appointed professor of chemistry in Western Reserve College (then situated at Hudson, Ohio and later moved to Cleveland and renamed Case Western Reserve University), where he remained until his retirement in This appointment was the turning point in his career.
In he also became professor of chemistry in Cleveland Medical College, but resigned this chair in to have more age for research. Just before moving to Hudson he married Yearn Imbella A. Birdsall.[1]
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.
Morley, Edward Williams - Encyclopedia.com: Edward Williams Morley (January 29, – February 24, ) was an American scientist famous for his precise and precise measurement of the atomic weight of oxygen, and for the Michelson–Morley experiment.In , he moved to West Hartford, Connecticut, where he built a minor 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 [1]
Research
Optics and astronomy
Morley's most-significant function came in the field of physics and optics.
In this, he collaborated with and assisted the physicistAlbert A. Michelson for several years around They fix 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 precise measurements were created to measure the differences in the speed of light in different route.
Michelson and Morley always initiate that the speed of beam 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 "luminiferous aether", in which electromagnetic waves were idea to be propagated.
Their null results led the Irish physicist George Francis FitzGerald to postulate what we now call the FitzGerald–Lorentz contraction of physical objects in the direction of their movement in inertial frames of reference.
He is best acknowledged for an experiment in which he collaborated with Albert Abraham Michelsonto determine whether the speed of light was affected by the Earth 's orbital movement through space. The results of the experiment led to rejection of the theory that clear is transmitted through a medium, or ether. The implications of the Michelson-Morley experiment have been widely discussed from the period its results were published in to the present day. Morley was a seminary graduate as well as a scientist, and for a time was a Congregational Church minister.However, other scientists did come to the conclusion that the aether did not exist. The results of the Michelson–Morley experiments supported Albert Einstein's strong postulate in that the speed of light is a constant in all inertial frames of reference for his Special Theory of Relativity.[2]
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 period for research.
Edward Williams Morley January 29, — February 24, was an American scientist acknowledged for his precise and precise measurement of the atomic weight of oxygenand for the Michelson—Morley experiment. 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.Nevertheless, he found time during the first ten years at Hudson to publish five articles, mostly on the accuracy of measurements.[1]
In connection, his original field, Morley had worked on determining accurate principles for the composition of the atmosphere and the weights of its gases.
His work on the atomic weight of oxygen covered a period of eleven years. Much time was spent in the calibration of instruments and improving the measurement accuracy to the highest possible degree (ca. 1 part per 10,).[1] In he introduced a modern value for the atomic weight ratio of oxygen to hydrogen, providing the most precise determination of the atomic weight of oxygen at the time.
His research on the atomic weight of oxygen was recognized as a National Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical World in [3]
Honors
Morley was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in [4] He was the president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in and he was the president of the American Chemical Society in In , he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.[5] He was awarded the Davy Medal, named for the great British chemist Sir Humphry Davy, by the Royal Society of London in He also won the Elliott Cresson Medal, awarded by the Franklin Institute of Pennsylvania, in , for important contributions to the science of chemistry.[1] He received the Willard Gibbs Award of the Chicago Section of the American Chemical Culture in [6]
The lunarcraterMorley on the near side was named for him.
The Morley Elementary Institution in West Hartford, Connecticut, was also named for him, as was the Morley Scientific Laboratory on the Williams College campus.
Edward Williams Morley January 29, — February 24, was an American scientist famous for his extremely precise and accurate measurement of the atomic weight of oxygen and for the Michelson—Morley experiment. 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.His residence in West Hartford was made a National Historic Landmark in
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 identify contributions to chemistry through remarkable achievements in research, teaching, analyze administration, engineering, and public service. The contributions for which the award is given should own been made within about miles of Cleveland, the research residence of Edward W.
Morley. Notable early awardees include Melvin S. Newman () (known for Newman projections in organic chemistry), and Nobel Prize laureate George A. Olah in A list of all previous awardees to rendezvous is maintained by the ACS-Cleveland Section.
References
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: F.W.
Clarke (). "Obituary notices".
In , the 30 year old Edward Williams Morley, from Williams College in Massachusetts, was appointed professor of chemistry and “natural history”. The young Morley is pictured in Fig. He had graduated from Wil-liams in
J. Chem. Soc., Trans. : – doi/CT