"On the Relative Motion of the Earth and the Luminiferous Aether", in the whole volume of "The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science."

MICHELSON,Albert A. and Edward W. Morley.

Published by London, Taylor & Francis., 1887

About this Item

MICHELSON, Albert A. and Edward W. Morley. "On the Relative Motion of the Earth and the Luminiferous Aether", in the whole volume of "The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science," London, Taylor & Francis, 1887, vol 24 (5th series), July-December, vii, (1), 524pp, with the Michelson-Morley appearing on pp449-463 (with text illustrations) in the December issue. (The great paper was followed immediately by their paper "On a Method of making the Wave-length of Sodium Light the actual and practical Standard of Length,") pp 463-466. The volume is newly rebound in half-calf and marbled boards, with raised bands and discrete spine decorations, with red and black labels. Very fresh and crisp text. Lovely copy, though there are some occasional brown spots here and there, and the title page itself is fairly well browned. [++] First printing outside of the U.S. of one of the most important scientific efforts of the 19th century it had appeared a month earlier, in November, in Silliman's American Journal oif Science, the null results of the experiment puncturing the ether theories and leading to the speed of light being a universal constant. "What is now known as the most famous experimental null result in physics was reconciled in 1905 when Albert Einstein, in his formulation of special relativity, postulated that the speed of light is the same in all reference frames; i.e., the measured speed of light is independent of the relative motion of the observer and the light source. The hypothetical ether, with its preferred reference frame, was eventually abandoned as an unnecessary construct."--Britannica. [++] "The failure of this experiment was a serious blow to classical scientific theories because it cast doubts on the existence of the universal ether which had been a basic principle of, for example, the Newtonian theories of the universe."--Printing and the Mind of Man, 401. [++] "Michelson and Morley next redesigned the 1881 ether-drift experiment to increase the path length almost tenfold and to reduce friction of rotation by floating a sandstone slab on a mercury bearing. During five days in July 1887 Michelson and Morley performed their test for the relative motion of the earth in orbit against a stationary ether. Their results were null and so discouraging that they abandoned any effort to continue with the tests they intended in the following autumn, winter, and spring. The sensitivity they had achieved with this new interferometer, about one-fourth part in one billion, was its own reward, however; and both innovators began to think of other uses for such instruments. Although the experimenters quickly forgot their disappointment, theorists, and notably FitzGerald, Larmor, Lorentz, and Poincaré, made much of their failure to find fringe shifts and to corroborate Fresnel and Stokes s wave theory of light."--Complete DSB online (Michelson) [++] Michelson by the way was the first US citizen to win Nobel Prize in physics, 1907, for his precision optical instruments and the spectroscopic and metrological investigations conducted therewith.   He is also the only Nobelist to be a featured character in any U.S. Western tv drama series ("Bonanza" believe it or not, episode 92, "Look to the Stars", 1962).

Seller Inventory # ABE-1701522601183

Bibliographic Details

• Title: "On the Relative Motion of the Earth and the Luminiferous Aether", in the whole volume of "The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science."
• Publisher: London, Taylor & Francis.
• Publication Date: 1887
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Fine
• Weight: 2 pounds
• Seller catalogs:
  • Physics