Edward Morley

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Edward Williams Morley (January 29, 1838 - February 24 1923) was an American scientist.

Early life

Morley was born in Newark, New Jersey and grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut, where he is currently the namesake of Morley Elementary School in West Hartford. He graduated from Williams College in 1860.

Career

From 1869 to 1906 he was professor of chemistry at Western Reserve College (today Case Western Reserve University).

His best remembered work, which he did together with Albert Abraham Michelson, was the Michelson–Morley experiment in 1887. Neither he nor Michelson ever considered that it disproved the aether hypothesis. However, others did, and it ultimately led to Einstein's theory of relativity. Morley also worked with Dayton Miller on positive aether experiments after his work with Michelson.

Morley also worked on the oxygen composition of the atmosphere, thermal expansion, and the velocity of light in a magnetic field.