[TheForge] Michelson's and Morley's experiment

[Daniel Kretchmar]

     If we are going to be specific, Michelson's and Morley's experiment proved 
that they could not detect the aether. Michelson and Morley assumed that since 
they couldn't detect it's effects, their instrumentation must be faulty. 
Lorentz created his now famous formulae the "Lorentz Transforms" which 
accounted for both the aether and the measured properties of light.  It was 
Einstein, that showed that it was possible to remove the aether from the 
equations entirely and still get the same predictable, measurable, results.  
Later interpretations decided that since Michelson and Morley couldn't detect 
aether's effects, it must not exsist. 
   I heard recently on NPR that some physicists have been conducting 
experiments to prove the exsistance of aether, thinking perhapes that 
Michelson's and Morley's equipment might just not have been sensitive enough.  
Result of those experiments have yet to come in. 

(Its amazing where you finally get to use information from taking a course 
in "The History of Twentieth Century Physics". I have yet to use it in my 
classroom where I teach middle school science :)


Daniel Kretchmar
www.irontreeworks.com

Isn't sanity really just a one trick pony, anyway? I mean, all you get is one 
trick, rational thinking! But when you're good and crazy�ooh hoo hoo hoo�the 
sky's the limit! 
The Tick


Quoting "debmiller@fuse.net" <debmiller@fuse.net>:

> Michelson and Morley demonstrated that ether does not exist when measuring
> the speed of light in the steam tunnels under Case Institute of Technology in
> Cleveland. They were really trying to prove that the speed of light changed
> in air versus in ether by evacuating the steam tunnels and measuring the
> speed of light in air and then in a vacuum, which they thought would result
> in demonstrating the existence of ether.
> 
> Ray
> 
>