author
Edward Williams Morley
1838–1923
Best remembered for the Michelson–Morley experiment, he was a meticulous American scientist whose measurements helped reshape modern physics. He also made landmark studies of the atomic weight of oxygen, earning a reputation for extraordinary precision.
1 Audiobook
On the relative motion of the earth and the luminiferous æther
by Albert A. (Albert Abraham) Michelson, Edward Williams Morley
About the author
Born in Newark, New Jersey, on January 29, 1838, Edward Williams Morley grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut, and graduated from Williams College in 1860. He pursued both scientific and theological studies, served briefly in work connected to the Civil War, and was also a Congregational minister before settling into academic life.
Morley spent much of his career at Western Reserve College and later Western Reserve University in Ohio, where he taught chemistry and physics. He became known for painstaking experimental work, especially his highly accurate measurements of the atomic weight of oxygen. His gift was careful, exact measurement—the kind of science that quietly changes what everyone else can build on.
He is most famous for collaborating with Albert A. Michelson on the Michelson–Morley experiment, an attempt to detect the Earth's motion through the supposed ether. The experiment's null result became one of the most important findings in the history of physics and helped clear the way for later ideas about light and relativity. Morley died on February 24, 1923, in West Hartford, leaving behind a legacy of patience, rigor, and scientific honesty.