Today (May 9, 1931) is the Memorial Day of Albert Abraham Michelson, the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Science for accurately measuring the speed of light.

Today (May 9, 1931) is the Memorial Day of Albert Abraham Michelson, the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Science for accurately measuring the speed of light.

 

Albert Abraham Michelson was born on December 19, 1852, into a Jewish family in Sterlno, Prussia, Poland. His father, Samuel Michelson, was a businessman. Mother Rosalia. His family emigrated from Poland to the United States in 1855, two years after his birth. At first I had to live in several cities, including New York, Virginia, Nevada and San Francisco. Although he was born into a Jewish family, he was an agnostic. He did his schooling there while staying at his aunt's house in San Francisco. He continued his education in public schools. In 1899 he married Edna Stanton. The couple had a son and three daughters.

 

In 1869 he was appointed Special Officer of the American Naval Academy by the then President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant. After working there for 4 years, he chose to study physics, optics, thermodynamics, seasonal physics, and drawing, whether he was properly trained or not. He graduated in 1873. There he worked as an instructor of physics and chemistry from 1875 to 1977. In 1875 he was appointed professor of physics at the Case School of Applied Sciences in Cleveland. He completed his postgraduate studies in Berlin and Paris in 1880-82 under the supervision of the scientist Helm Holtz.

 

In 1889 Clark became a professor at the University. In 1892 he was appointed professor at the newly formed University of Chicago. He was elected the first head of the Department of Physics created at the University and later worked in it. In 1877, while at Annapolis, while doing a science class in class, he attempted to determine the speed of light as part of it. In 1867, the French astronomer Armand PCU attempted to use an interceptor to measure the size of a galaxy. But beginning in 1887, Michelsono developed a method for combining individual rays emitted from the same source using multiple audios and light translucent glasses. He set up an interferometer to coordinate the number of intersecting rays, the distance and direction they passed.

 

Scientists believe that the invisible medium ether, which is in the interstellar liquid state, is scattered throughout the universe. They also said that light penetrates through this. Michelson, along with Marley, split an L-shaped instrument in two and propelled it along different steep paths of the same length. Then he put them back together. If there had been a medium called ether there would have been a slight time difference when the returning rays rejoined there in steep paths according to their densities. But their study showed that did not happen. Since that did not happen the media of ether proved to be ubiquitous. This study became known as the "Michelson-Marley Study".

 

Before Michelson, many scientists were involved in finding the velocity of light. But the levels they found were not accurate. In 1878, Michelson succeeded in accurately determining the velocity of light by conducting his study with mere audibles at very low cost. He did his research over and over again. In 1920, Wilson selected two dunes within 22 miles of San Antonio and set up completely new Audi systems to accurately detect the speed of light (299,940 km / s). With the help of his interceptor, he measured the diameter of the galaxy Alpha Arianis.

 

In 1900 he was appointed President of the American Academy of Physics. In 1904 he was awarded the Mathews Medal for excellence in his research. In 1907 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his research in optics. He became the first American to receive the Nobel Prize. In 1907 he was awarded the Copley Medal. In 1910-11 he was appointed President of the American Society for the Advancement of Science. Returned to Chicago in 1918. He served as president of the country's National Academy of Sciences from 1923-27. In 1912 the Franklin Institute awarded the Elliott Grayson Medal, and in 1916 the National Institute of Science awarded the Trapper Medal. In 1923 the Royal Astronomical Society awarded the gold medal. In 1929 the Institute of Physics awarded him a special medal in his honor.

 

He was a special member of the Royal Space Agency, a member of the Royal Society of London and a member of the American Optical Society, and was instrumental in the development of many such associations. In 1925 he became Professor of Valuation at several universities. Scientific organizations in the United States and Europe proudly declared him a member. Similarly, universities in the United States and other countries have awarded honorary doctorates.

Albert Einstein has sincerely praised Michelson's research for helping to advance his theory of relativity. He resigned in 1929 and joined the Mount Wilson Astronomical Observatory at Pasadena. Albert Abraham Michelson, who accurately calculated the speed of light, passed away on May 9, 1931, at the age of 78, in California, USA.

Source By: Wikipedia

Information: Ramesh, Assistant Professor of Physics, Nehru Memorial College, Puthanampatti, Trichy.