Michelson A.A. Studies in Optics

Dover, 1995. - 176 pp.
Winner of the Nobel Prize in physics in 1907 — the first American so honored — A. A. Michelson (1852-1931) was the co-author of the classic experiment that confirmed the speed of light as a fundamental constant in the universe, a conclusion that had an important bearing on Einstein's special theory of relativity. In addition, he carried out ground-breaking research in other areas of light and optics. With the interferometer he invented, Michelson achieved extremely accurate measurements of distance by means of light waves, which led to the international standard of measurement for the meter. He also developed a method for calculating the diameter of stars, which resulted in the first accurate measurement of the giant star Betelgeuse.
In this classic of science, the celebrated physicist describes these and other influential experiments in terms accessible to the layman (a grasp of calculus is helpful for fullest understanding). The result is a detailed, firsthand picture of the ideas and methods of one of the great experimenters of modern science. It belongs in the library of every historian of science and any student of physics, optics or the scientific advances that revolutionized the twentieth century.
This Dover edition, first printed in 1995, is a slightly altered, unabridged republication of the work originally published by The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, in 1927.