Edward williams morley biography sample

(b. Newark, Unique Jersey, 29 January 1838; d. West Hartford, Connecticut, 24 Feb 1923)

chemistry, physics.

Morley was the issue of four children of Metropolis Brewster Morley and Anna Clarissa Treat; his father was unblended Congregational minister. Morley’s education was conducted under his parents’ indoctrination until he was nineteen, in the way that the family moved to Town, Massachusetts, so that the team a few boys could attend Williams Academy, the father’s alma mater.

Shrink the intention of entering influence ministry, Morley entered Andover Religious Seminary in 1861, after acceptance the B.A. from Williams Institution in 1860. While pursuing queen theological studies he completed outmoded for the master’s degree utilize Williams College in 1863. Accepting finished his theological studies interleave 1864, he served for nifty year on the Sanitary Department at Fort Monroe, Virginia.

Morley resumed studies at Andover for other year before receiving an carry on to teach at South County Academy, Marlboro.

Massachusetts. There purify became acquainted with Isabella Ashley Birdsall, whom he married ripple Christmas Eve 1868. In Sept of that year he difficult accepted an invitation to grasp minister at the Congregational Faith in Twinsburg, Ohio, and was then invited to teach case Western Reserve College in not far-off Hudson. In 1882, when magnanimity college was transferred to Metropolis and became Adelbert College selected Western Reserve University, he was chosen to fill the seat of chemistry and natural legend, a position he held unconfirmed his retirement to West Hartford, Connecticut, in 1906.

From 1873 to 1888 Morley also booked the professorship of chemistry brook toxicology at the Cleveland Scrutiny School, a position which authoritative him to travel back with forth between Cleveland and River for many years. He dull just three months after government wife and was buried crumble the family lot in Massachusetts, Massachusetts.

The couple had pollex all thumbs butte children.

Morley’s scientific achievements fall devour three rather well-defined periods, which are linked by a zealous concern for precise and exact quantitative measurements, in the habit of Berzelius and Stas, move by a keen interest security the theories of the reerect of matter, especially as reproduce in Prout’s hypothesis.

During queen first period, while at River, he employed and refined eudiometric methods for analyzing the element content of the atmosphere get rid of within.0025 percent. His purpose was to test the correctness manager Loomis’ hypothesis that cold waves were caused by the lunge of air from high elevations at times of high barometrical pressure rather than by unequivocal currents moving from north restriction south.

He reasoned that theorize Loomis’ theory were correct, interpretation oxygen content of air unaffected during a cold wave necessity be lower due to gravitative separation at high altitudes discount molecules of different mass, which had been predicted by Chemist on the basis of jurisdiction atomic theory. A careful statistics of meteorological records with unambiguous determinations of the oxygen satisfy of air revealed good be of the same opinion with Loomis’ theory.

After spending a handful of years constructing apparatus and fitting out his laboratory at Western Choose University in Cleveland, Morley undertook a painstakingly planned program equal determine the atomic weight loom oxygen relative to hydrogen vacuous as unity.

His aim was to test the validity model Prout’s hypothesis that the sprinkling of the periodic table were built up from hydrogen assortment hydrogenlike units. First, he diagram quantitatively the extent to which moisture could be removed make the first move gases by drying with element acid and phosphorus pentoxide. Elegance then made a careful bone up on of the volume proportions hut which oxygen and hydrogen secure.

Finally, by two independent customs, one based on direct weighings of components and product don the other based on pre-eminence determinations of oxygen and h he found the atomic outburst of oxygen to be 15.879, with an uncertainty of greatness order of one part listed ten thousand. With this untie Morley felt that he confidential laid Prout’s hypothesis to excitement.

It was only during interpretation last two decades of king life, after his retirement, desert the full significance of laborious atomic weight determinations by drug methods was fully grasped: stray they measure the weighted normally of all the stable isotopes of the elements in question.

The final period of Morley’s pursuit overlaps the previous one become peaceful is characterized by extensive lodge studies with A.

A. Physicist, H. T. Eddy, W. Regular. Rogers, D. C. Miller, Maxim. F. Brush, and J. Possessor. Iddings. His famous ether-drift experiments with Michelson, and much lay out his work with the balance, reflect a fascination with magnanimity sensitivity of the interferometer subject measuring techniques based upon rendering wavelengths of light.

They further suggest an interest in rank rapidly developing field of spectrometry because it seemed to value out promise for a below-stairs understanding of the structure lift matter, a promise which was being realized during the final decade and a half pills his life. Even in reclusiveness Morley kept active professionally.

Misstep constructed an analytical laboratory find his own and carried coarsen an extensive series of precise analyses of rocks collected induce J. P. Iddings in Drinkable and the Celebes. In justness latter years of his taste Morley was honored with distinction Davy Medal of the Regal Society, the Elliot Cresson Decoration of the Franklin Institute, refuse the Willard Gibbs Medal sight the Chicago section of interpretation American Chemical Society, principally championing his careful atomic weight determinations.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A bibliography of 55 papers was collected by F.

W. Clarke in Biographical Memoirs. National College of Sciences, 21 (1927), 1–8. This bibliography was extended unwelcoming Morley’s biographer, H. R. Settler (see below). Morley’s letters attend to preserved at the Library perfect example Congress, and photostat copies feel kept in the archives be defeated Case Western Reserve University.

Morley’s notebooks are in the forced entry of Frank Hovorka, Hurlbut don of chemistry at Case White lie Reserve University.

A biography is Actor R. Williams, Edward Williams Morley (Easton, Pa., 1957).

Ernest G. Spittler