Albert A. Michelson, master in the US Navy, measured the speed of light in 1879 with a precision ten times better than the best value from Europe. He had little schooling in physics and no research experience: This was the work of a prodigy. In the following three years, he invented the Michelson interferometer and carried out his first ether drift experiment. He went on to lay the foundations for high-precision measurements and natural physical standards. Michelson's report on his speed-of-light measurement, which has been preserved in his own handwriting, describes exactly how he executed his wizardry. 1 Physicists, particularly experimental physicists, who read the document will recognize Michelson's instinct for key issues, his frustrations in making things work, and his struggles to achieve honest results.
Michelson's background was hardly auspicious for a physicist. In 1856, when Albert was four years old, his father, a peddler, fled with his family...
