1852-1931
Physicist

Nobel Prize Winner.

The first American to win the Nobel Prize for physics, awarded in 1907, Albert Abraham Michelson is still renowned for his measurements of the speed of light and his calculation of the size of Betelgeuse, the first star other than the sun to be measured.

Background.

Born to Jewish parents in a small Polish town that was at the time part of Prussia, Michelson immigrated to the United States with his family when he was four years old. He graduated from Annapolis in 1873 and served in the fleet until returning to the Naval Academy as an instructor in 1875. After study in Germany and France (1880-1882), he taught at Case School of Applied Science (1882-1889), Clark University (1889- 1892), and the University of Chicago (1892-1931).

Early Work.

In 1878-1879 Michelson measured the speed of light with impressive accuracy and found it to be...