In the late 1800s, no one knew what light was. Everyone knew it behaved like a wave some of the time, but all waves need to travel through some propagation medium. This propagation medium was called ...

Albert Michelson was a Polish immigrant who grew up in the hard-scrabble atmosphere of the California gold rush. He relied on an appeal to then-President Ulysses Grant to gain admission to the Naval ...

As the 19th century came to a close, physicists were feeling pretty satisfied with the state of their science. The great edifice of physical theory seemed complete. A few minor experiments remained to ...

Science prides itself on self-correction — but history shows it has taken some spectacular wrong turns. For over two millennia, spontaneous generation was accepted as fact, claiming life could emerge ...

Science is a field of progress, and in order to keep moving forward, you’ve got to break down a few walls. If you’re in New York on June 6, come join us for our Science Wake: Eulogies for Failed ...

In 1887, Albert Michelson built an experiment that he hoped would lead to the detection of luminiferous ether. At the time, physicists believed that the ether permeated the universe and served as the ...

AS FAR as dead ideas go, the luminiferous aether is among the deadest. Over a century ago, it picked a fight with Einstein’s theory of relativity and lost. Few victories in modern physics have been so ...

The Tale of an Experiment that 'Proved' Relativity Wrong | RealClearScience Yesterday a gentleman posted a comment on an article I wrote about the luminiferous aether. For those who aren't familiar, ...

“…upon this simple system of many colors is based the manifold and infinitely varied investigation of all things.” —Zosimos of Panopolis (ca. 250 CE ...

If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in ...