Albert A. Michelson

Master of optical precision measurement whose interferometry disproved the luminiferous aether.

Specifications & Metrics

era

1852 – 1931

nobel prize

Physics, 1907

Core Principles & Analysis

• With Edward Morley in 1887, found no motion through the aether, clearing the path to relativity.
• First American to win a science Nobel Prize, in Physics in 1907, for optical precision instruments.
• Measured the speed of light with increasing precision for five decades, from 1879 until his death.