Morley was the eldest of four children born to a Congregationalist minister in Newark, New Jersey in 1838. He entered Williams College at age nineteen, and upon his graduation in 1860 he promptly enrolled at Andover Theological Seminary. While continuing his theological studies, he earned his master's degree at Williams in 1863 and completed his training at the seminary the following year.

Chemistry had been Morley's hobby throughout his schooling as a distraction from his intense studies. While waiting for a post in the ministry, however, he spent a good deal of time conducting lab experiments and he developed a keen interest in emerging theories concerning the structure of matter. When a position in the chemistry department at Western Reserve University opened, he accepted it with the stipulation that he be allowed to preach at the university chapel. As a professor at Western Reserve, Morley developed an obsession for precision and...