= Edward W. Morley
{c}
{tag=Physicist}
{wiki}
= Edward Morley
{synonym}
<Edward W. Morley> and <Albert A. Michelson> tested whether the orientation of an <interferometer> revealed motion through the proposed <luminiferous aether>. Perpendicular optical paths were recombined to form <interference fringes>; rotating the instrument tested for the predicted change in their relative travel times. The measured shift was much smaller than the prediction based on a stationary <luminiferous aether> and the <Earth>'s orbital motion. The experiment constrained that model through a differential optical measurement, rather than directly timing a single <light> pulse.<On the Relative Motion of the Earth and the Luminiferous Ether by Albert Abraham Michelson and Edward W. Morley>[1887 report, perpendicular paths, rotation and comparison of measured with predicted fringe displacements]{ref}
\Image[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Redirect/file/Edward%20Williams%20Morley.jpg?width=250]
{title=Portrait of <Edward W. Morley>}
{description=Photographer not identified; portrait of Edward Williams Morley in 1887; source University of Maryland aether-drift page. Public domain in the United States as asserted by Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:PD-US[Source usage terms], via Wikimedia Commons.}
{source=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Williams_Morley.jpg}
{width=250}
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