Authorised form of name | Michelson; Albert Abraham (1852 - 1931); physicist |
Dates | 1852 - 1931 |
Nationality | American |
Place of birth | Stzrelno, Poland, Europe |
Date of birth | 19 December 1852 |
Place of death | Pasadena, California, USA |
Date of death | 09/05/1931 |
Occupation | physicist |
Research field | Spectroscopy |
Physics |
Optics |
Metrology |
Activity | Education: United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland (1869-1873) Career: Science Instructor at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland (1875-1879); began work on accurately measuring the speed of light (1878); travelled to Europe (1880); resigned from the U.S. Navy (1891); professor of physics at the Case School of Applied Science, Cleveland (1883); professor of physics at Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts (1889-1892); first head of department of physics at University of Chicago (1892-1929); retired (1929). Medals and prizes: Matteucci Medal 1903 Nobel Prize (Physics) 1907 Elliott Cresson Medal 1912 Henry Draper Medal 1916 Albert Medal 1920 Gold Medal of RAS 1923 Franklin Medal 1923 Duddell Medal and Prize 1929 |
Membership category | Foreign Member |
Date of election | 27/11/1902 |
Age at election | 50 |
Proposer | Joseph Larmor |
James Emerson Reynolds |
Alfred Bray Kempe |
William Thomas Blanford |
Charles Vernon Boys |
Robert Henry Scott |
Royal Society activity | Medals and prizes: Copley Medal 1907 |
Relationships | Parents: Samuel Michelson and Rozalia Przyłubska. Spouse: 1) Margaret Hemingway (1877-1898) 2) Edna Stanton (1899) Children: Two sons and a daughter from his first marriage, and three daughters from his second marriage. |
General context | Established the speed of light as a fundamental constant. The first American to win the Nobel Prize in science. Remembered for his work on hyperfine structure; fine structure; the Mchelson-Morley experiment; Michelson-Gale-Pearson experiment; the Michelson interferometer; and the Michelson stellar interferometer. |
Royal Society Obituary or Memoir | Click to view (may be contained within a meeting notice, presidential address or list of death notices) |
Sources | Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DSB References: G V R Born, FRS, 'The wide-ranging family history of Max Born' in NR 2002 vol 56 pp 219-262 Obituaries: Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1932-1935 vol l pp 18-25, plate, by Hugh Frank Newall |
Royal Society code | NA721 |
Reference number | Title | Date |
EC/1902/25 | Michelson, Albert Abraham: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |
NLB/9/770 | Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Richard Tetley Glazebrook, Fellow of the Royal Society | 11 July 1894 |
NLB/18/759 | Copy letter from Arthur William Rucker, to Professor [A] Michelson | 9 May 1899 |
NLB/18/697 | Copy letter from Arthur William Rucker, to Professor [A] Michelson | 23 April 1899 |
NLB/36/888 | Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Messrs Robarts Lubbock & Company | 8 January 1908 |
NLB/36/666 | Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor Albert Abraham Michelson, Foreign Member of the Royal Society, Grand Hotel, Trafalgar Square, W.C. | 28 November 1907 |
NLB/36/881 | Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Messrs Robarts Lubbock & Company | 7 January 1908 |
MC/23/298 | Letter from [Albert Abraham] Michelson, The University of Chicago, Ryerson Physical Laboratory, to Alfred Bray Kempe, Treasurer, Royal Society | 2 January 1908 |
NLB/61/162 | Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [John] Joly, FRS | 26 May 1921 |
NLB/65/401 | Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [Albert Abraham] Michelson, FRS | 26 October 1923 |
NLB/73/360 | Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Prof. [Hugh Frank] Newall, FRS | 23 June 1931 |
NLB/73/352 | Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Prof [Hugh Frank] Newall, FRS | 19 June 1931 |
NLB/36/889 | Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor Albert Abraham Michelson, Foreign Member of the Royal Society | 8 January 1908 |
MC/22 | Volume 22 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society | 1907 |
MC/22/248 | Letter from Albert [Abraham] Michelson, The University of Chicago, Ryerson Physical Laboratory, to the Secretaries of the Royal Society | 10 November 1907 |