Edward W. Morley

For the Australian politician, seeEdward Morley (politician).

Edward W. Morley
Morley c. 1885
Born	(1838-01-29)January 29, 1838 Newark, New Jersey
Died	February 24, 1923(1923-02-24)(aged 85) West Hartford, Connecticut
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Williams College
Known for	Michelson–Morley experiment Fine structure
Spouse	Imbella A. Birdsall ​ ​ (m.1888; died 1922)​
Awards	Elliott Cresson Medal(1912) Davy Medal(1907) Willard Gibbs Award(1917)
Scientific career
Institutions	Western Reserve College Western Reserve University

Edward Williams Morley(January 29, 1838 – February 24, 1923) was an American scientist known for his precise and accurate measurement of the atomic weight ofoxygen,and for theMichelson–Morley experiment.

Biography

Morley was born inNewark, New Jersey,to Anna Clarissa Treat and the Reverend Sardis Brewster Morley. Both parents were of early colonial ancestry and of purely British origin. He grew up inWest 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.

In 1857 Morley enteredWilliams CollegeatWilliamstown, Massachusetts,his father's alma mater. He received his A.B. in 1860 and his master's degree in 1863. Around 1860 he gradually shifted his attention from chemistry, which fascinated him since he was child, to optics and astronomy. In 1860–61 he mounted a transit instrument, constructed achronograph,and made the first accurate determination of thelatitudeof the college observatory. This determination was the subject of his first published paper, which was read before theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Sciencein 1866.

Upon advice of his parents, Morley entered Andover Theological Seminary in 1861, finishing in 1864. It was here, probably, that he acquired a good working knowledge of Hebrew. From 1866 to 1868 he was a teacher in a private school and later, in 1868, he was called to preach in a small country parish inOhio.At about the same time, he was appointed professor of chemistry in Western Reserve College (then situated atHudson, Ohioand later moved toClevelandand renamedCase Western Reserve University), where he remained until his retirement in 1906. This appointment was the turning point in his career. In 1873 he also became professor of chemistry inCleveland Medical College,but resigned this chair in 1888 to have more time for research. Just before moving to Hudson he married Miss Imbella A. Birdsall.

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. In 1906, he moved toWest Hartford, Connecticut,where he built a small house and a laboratory for his personal studies of rocks and minerals.

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 theHartford Hospitalin 1923.

Research

Optics and astronomy

Morley's most-significant work came in the field ofphysicsandoptics.In this, he collaborated with and assisted thephysicistAlbert A. Michelsonfor several years around 1887. They set up, executed, and improved their techniques many times in what we call theMichelson–Morley experiment.This involved making more and more accurate measurements of thespeed of lightin various directions, and at different times of the year, as the Earth revolved in its orbit around the Sun. These careful measurements were created to measure the differences in the speed of light in different directions. Michelson and Morley always found that the speed of light 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.

Neither he nor Michelson ever considered that these null results disproved the hypothesis of the existence of "luminiferous aether",in whichelectromagnetic waveswere thought to be propagated. Their null results led the Irish physicistGeorge Francis FitzGeraldto postulate what we now call theFitzGerald–Lorentz contractionof physical objects in the direction of their movement in inertial frames of reference.

However, other scientists did come to the conclusion that theaetherdid not exist. The results of the Michelson–Morley experiments supportedAlbert Einstein's strongpostulatein 1905 that the speed of light is a constant in allinertial frames of referencefor hisSpecial Theory of Relativity.

Morley also collaborated withDayton Milleron positive aether experiments after his work with Michelson.Morley himself made measurements of thespeed of lightwhen it passes through a strongmagnetic field.He also studied thethermal expansionof solid materials.

Chemistry

At Western Reserve College, Morley was required to teach, not only chemistry, but also geology and botany, leaving him little time for research. Nevertheless, he found time during the first ten years at Hudson to publish five articles, mostly on the accuracy of measurements.

In chemistry, his original field, Morley had worked on determining accurate values for thecompositionof theatmosphereand 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 10,000).In 1895 he introduced a new 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 aNational Historic Chemical Landmarkby theAmerican Chemical Societyin 1995.

Honors

Morley was elected to theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciencesin 1892.He was the president of theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Sciencein 1895 and he was the president of theAmerican Chemical Societyin 1899. In 1903, he was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society.He was awarded theDavy Medal,named for the great British chemistSir Humphry Davy,by theRoyal Societyof London in 1907. He also won theElliott Cresson Medal,awarded by theFranklin InstituteofPennsylvania,in 1912, for important contributions to the science of chemistry.He received theWillard Gibbs Awardof the Chicago Section of theAmerican Chemical Societyin 1917.

ThelunarcraterMorleyon the near side was named for him. TheMorley Elementary SchoolinWest Hartford, Connecticut,was also named for him, as was the Morley Scientific Laboratory on the Williams College campus.His housein West Hartford was made aNational Historic Landmarkin 1975.

TheCleveland Section of the American Chemical Society(Cleveland-ACS) annually sponsors a regional award named in honor of Edward W. Morley, which consists of theMorley Medalin addition to a monetary honorarium. The purpose of this annual award by the Cleveland-ACS is to recognize contributions to chemistry through outstanding achievements in research, teaching, research administration, engineering, and public service. The contributions for which the award is given should have been made within about 250 miles of Cleveland, the research home of Edward W. Morley. Notable early awardees includeMelvin S. Newman(1969) (known for Newman projections in organic chemistry), and Nobel Prize laureateGeorge A. Olahin 1970. A list of all previous awardees to date is maintained by theACS-Cleveland Section.

References

This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain:F.W. Clarke(1923). "Obituary notices".J. Chem. Soc., Trans.123:3421–344.doi:10.1039/CT9232303421.

External links

• Edward Williams Morleyfrom theEncyclopædia Britannica
• Edward W. Morley—Biographical Memoirsof theNational Academy of Sciences