Papers, 1803-1989 ; (bulk: 1861-1965).

ArchivalResource

Papers, 1803-1989 ; (bulk: 1861-1965).

The collection documents Michelson's long career, but also includes materials relevant to Michelson that were created before and after his lifetime. Subjects covered include the Michelson family; his career at the Naval Academy and subsequent relations with the Navy; his relationship with other institutions such as Clark University, University of Chicago, the Bureau of Standards, and the Case Institute. Subject files include: ether experiments, gravity meter experiments, the history of light and the interferometer, the Michelson-Morley experiment, spectroscopy, star diameter measurements, vacuum tube experiment, velocity of light measurements, the Mount Wilson experiment, the Nobel Prize, Lick Observatory, and the Bureau of Ordinance range finder. Correspondence concerning Michelson's experiments, awards, and society memberships, notebooks, data sheets, etc. and on such topics as the velocity of light, relative motion of earth and ether, determination of the standard meter in wavelengths of light, and other applications of interference methods of metrology, metallic colors in birds and insects, measurement of stellar diameters, elasticoviscous phenomena, and earth tides; scientific manuscripts and reprints by Michelson and other scientists whose work related to Michelson's; critiques and biographical material about Michelson; apparatus (some models), such as the interferometer, gravity meter, ruling engine, and ether. Drift equipment; photos; and medals. The Publications Series includes all of Michelson's published works, as well as most of the materials published about him. Among the many associates of Michelson's represented in the collection are: W.S. Adams, Niels Bohr, H. Crew, Albert Einstein, Henry Gordon Gale, George Ellery Hale, R.A. Millikan, E.M. Morley, Simon Newcomb, Thomas J. O'Donnell, Francis G. Pease, and Lord Rayleigh.

63.28 linear feet : (includes a variety of media)

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 8287530

Related Entities

There are 20 Entities related to this resource.

Bohr, Niels, 1885-1962

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6t836n5 (person)

Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist who made tremendous contributions to his field, transforming accepted notions of atomic structure, helping to develop nuclear fission, and advocating for international cooperation in crafting responsible nuclear policy. Bohr was born in Copenhagen in 1885 into a family that encouraged his academic pursuits. Christian Bohr, his father, was professor of physiology at the University of Copenhagen. Bohr credited his father for awakening hi...

National Bureau of Standards (U.S.)

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Lick Observatory

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University of Chicago.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6449cnx (corporateBody)

Most of the records in the collection pertain to the $400,000 raised by the American Baptist Education Society in 1889-1890 in order to obtain a 600,000 grant from John D. Rockefeller for the creation of an endowment for the University of Chicago. The first volume in the inventory, Record of Pledges for the University of Chicago, contains an alphabetical numbered listing of subscribers, amounts pledged, and payments made through 1906. The subscription forms and letters (1:4-13) are numbered to c...

Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63c6p77 (person)

Albert Einstein was born at Ulm, in Württemberg, Germany, on March 14, 1879. Six weeks later the family moved to Munich, where he later on began his schooling at the Luitpold Gymnasium. Later, they moved to Italy and Albert continued his education at Aarau, Switzerland and in 1896 he entered the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich to be trained as a teacher in physics and mathematics. In 1901, the year he gained his diploma, he acquired Swiss citizenship and, as he was...

Gale, Henry Gordon, 1874-1942

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vx0kv4 (person)

Physicist. Born 1874 in Aurora, Illinois. Received A.B. from University of Chicago in 1896, Ph. D. in Physics in 1899. Joined University of Chicago faculty in 1899 in Department of Physics, full professorship in 1916, retired in 1940. Died 1942. From the description of Papers, 1889-1948. (University of Chicago Library). WorldCat record id: 45478641 ...

Livingston, Dorothy Michelson

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Crew, Henry, 1859-1953

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6251k4c (person)

Physicist (spectroscopy). Astronomer, Lick Observatory, 1891-1892; professor of physics, Northwestern University, 1892-1931; and chief, Division of Basic Sciences, A Century of Progress Exposition, Chicago, 1931-1933. From the description of Papers [microform], 1833-1967, (bulk 1880-1940) (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 84584808 Henry Crew was born June 4, 1859 in Richmond, Ohio, the first son of William Henry and Deborah Ann Hargrave Crew. He had one brother, Ch...

Millikan, Robert Andrews, 1868-1953

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Physicist (photoelectricity, ions) and educator. On the physics faculty at the University of Chicago, 1896-1921; on the faculty at California Institute of Technology: director, Norman Bridge Laboratory of Physics and chairman of the Executive Council, 1921-1946, emeritus professor of physics and chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1946; Nobel Prize in physics, 1923. From the description of Papers [microform], 1847-1953. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 77594601 Millikan was...

Rayleigh, John William Strutt, baron, 1842-1919

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6514130 (person)

John William Strutt, the Third Baron Rayleigh, an English physicist, was born in Terling, Essex, in 1842. He attended Cambridge University and in 1879 became professor of experimental physics there and director of its Cavendish Laboratory until 1884. He later was on the faculty at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, became chancellor of Cambridge University, and was a founder of the National Physics Laboratory in Teddington, England. Strutt, who with Lord William Ramsey, discovered the first...

United States Naval Academy

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Taffinder was born on March 18, 1884, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1906, attained the rank of Vice Admiral, retired from the Navy in 1947, and died in 1965. From the description of Diploma, June 14, 1906. (Naval War College). WorldCat record id: 704931343 Founded in 1845, the United States Naval Academy trains students in a four-year Officer Development Program, preparing them for assignments as midshipmen after graduation. The courses focus on moral...

Mount Wilson Observatory

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Founded in December 1904 by George Ellery Hale and funded by the Carnegie Institution, the Mount Wilson Observatory quickly became one of the 20th century's major astronomical research centers. Located just north of Los Angeles high atop the San Gabriel Mountains, the observatory took full advantage of Southern California's clear nights and uniquely steady air. The observatory's 60" telescope completed in 1908 was the largest then in existence. In 1917, another Mount Wilson telescope, 100" in di...

Sperry, Elmer Ambrose, 1860-1930

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Elmer A. Sperry was born on October 12, 1860, in Cortland, N.Y. He attended the local elementary schools and then enrolled in Cornell University. At Cornell he developed an interest in electrical engineering and began working with a group of Syracuse industrialists in order to construct an arc lighting system. By 1882 Sperry was recognized as being one of America's electrical pioneers. He is primarily known as for his work with feedback devices and servomechanisms and as the founder in 1910 of t...

Morley, Edward Williams, 1838-1923

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Chemist and physician. From the description of Edward Williams Morley papers, 1833-1923 (bulk 1863-1899). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71131048 Chemist, physicist, and professor of natural history and chemistry at Western Reserve University. From the description of Papers, 1851-1922. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 81988912 Biographical Note 1838, Jan. 29 ...

Adams, Walter S. (Walter Sydney), 1876-1956

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Adams was the astronomer of stellar spectroscopy at Mount Wilson Observatory, 1904-1923, and Director, 1923-1946. From the description of Correspondence, 1881-1939. (American Philosophical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 86165432 Astronomer. From the description of Papers, 1923-1956. [microform]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79843223 Walter Sydney Adams (1876-1956, APS 1915), astronomer, explored the uses of spectroscopy, investigate...

Hale, George Ellery, 1868-1938

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69p32w4 (person)

George Ellery Hale was an astrophysicist. He was the organizer and director of the Mount Wilson Observatory of the Carnegie Institute of Washington, 1904-1923, and was honorary director until his death in 1938. His principal scientific researches were made in stellar spectroscopy. From the description of Papers, 1903-1935. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 82798019 From the description of Papers, 1882-1937. (American Philosophical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 122523501...

Clark university Worcester, Mass.

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Michelson, Albert A. (Albert Abraham), 1852-1931

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6833vkf (person)

Albert Abraham Michelson (December 19, 1852 – May 9, 1931) was an American physicist known for his work on measuring the speed of light and especially for the Michelson–Morley experiment. In 1907, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics, becoming the first American to win the Nobel Prize in a science. He was also the founder and the first head of the physics department of the University of Chicago....

Case Institute of Technology

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Newcomb, Simon, 1835-1909

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American astronomist and political economist. From the description of Typed letter : [Washington, D.C., to the editors of The Critic, Jeannette L. and Joseph B. Gilder, 1884 Aug. 19]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 645229686 American astronomer. From the description of Typewritten letters signed (3) : Washington, D.C., to Harper & Brothers, 1886 Mar. 16-1883 Apr. 23. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270612661 Astronomer, mathematician, and economist. ...