THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



283 



THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



THE SO BEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS 

 FOR 1907 



The award of the Nobel prize and 

 the Copley medal to Dr. A. A. Michel- 

 son, professor of physics in the Univer- 

 sity of Chicago, is of interest to Amer- 

 icans from more view points than one. 

 Naturally and properly, it gratifies 

 their national pride. But more than 

 this, it marks a widespread recognition 

 of the development of pure science 

 which has recently occurred in this 

 country, and the partial attainment of 

 those ideals advocated so vigorously by 

 Rowland in his " Plea for Pure Sci- 

 ence," addressed to the American Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science 

 at its Minneapolis meeting. In the 

 past these ideals have been typified by 

 the work of Franklin, Henry, Gibbs 

 and Rowland — honorable names — but 

 separated by intervals all too long. 



But most important of all is the 

 encouragement which pure science is 

 now receiving from various sources. 

 For while all prizes and research funds 

 combined can do little to kindle or 

 encourage the spirit of investigation in 

 the mature mind, they do elevate the 

 position of the investigator -and foster 

 the ideals of pure science in such a 

 way as to make a career of research 

 more attractive to able and ambitious 

 youth. Great things may be hoped for 

 American science when once the trend 

 of young talent has set less exclusively 

 to commerce and engineering. 



In the history of optics Professor 

 Michelson's work is certain to form a 

 large chapter. His highly accurate de- 

 termination of the speed of light is 

 already a classic. His interferometer, 

 devised for the purpose of detecting 

 relative motion between earth and 

 ether, bids fair to become the standard richly earned. 



instrument for the measurement of all 

 minute distances. Few facts in con- 

 temporary science are, indeed, more 

 striking than the quiet and modest, but 

 effective, manner in which Michelson 

 and Benoit have, by their determina- 

 tion of the standard meter in terms 

 of the red cadmium wave-length, mor- 

 ally, though not legally, established 

 the wave-length of light as the interna- 

 tional standard of length. 



Another means for dealing with 

 quantities in the sixth and seventh 

 decimal places is Michelson's echelon 

 grating which is perhaps the most 

 powerful spectroscopic device now 

 available. The product of his new 

 engine for ruling diffraction gratings 

 is awaited with great interest espe- 

 cially b'y astrophysicists. 



The superficial observer may be 

 tempted to identify the work of Michel- 

 son with the accurate determination 

 of certain numerical constants. A 

 greater mistake could not be made. 

 For in nearly every case these deter- 

 minations have been made possible by 

 the discovery of some important meth- 

 od or principle whose fruitfulness it is 

 impossible as yet to estimate. 



For forty years after its enunciation 

 the principle of Avogadro remained 

 practically unrecognized by chemists. 

 Nor is this tardiness in the recognition 

 of scientific values confined to scientific 

 men. Faraday had both the dynamo 

 and the electric motor in full operation 

 in 1831; but these machines were not 

 placed on the market until about 1876. 

 We therefore attempt no accurate esti- 

 mate of the achievements of Professor 

 Michelson, but merely extend to him 

 the congratulations which he has so 



