Albert Michelson was the greatest experimental physicist of his era and the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Physics. He measured the speed of light and the elasticity of the earth to a degree never achieved before. With an almost miraculous gift for accuracy he invented the interferometer, and with it was the first to measure the satellites of Jupiter and the diameter of a star. Devising this most precise optical instrument in history, he toppled Newton's concepts of the existence of the ether. His experiments helped prove Einstein's theory of relativity and paved the way for nuclear development.

Science has always fascinated Michelson. As a boy in Nevada he dreamed of taking the rainbow apart to see what it was made of. But in the 1860's there was scant chance for scientific schooling, especially for a poor boy. When the opportunity arose to enter the Naval Academy at Annapolis, where he would receive the best technical education obtainable, young Michelson took the examination. But though he passed, he was rejected since all the appointments had already been made. In desperation he went to Washington and actually persuaded President Grant to appoint him illegally. Though weak on seamanship, he excelled in athletics and science.

Before Michelson was thirty, he invented the amazing interferometer and measured to within one part in two million the speed of light. With these measurements he became world famous. Then, in his sixties came his most dramatic achievement. No one had ever measured the diameter of a star. It was said to be impossible, even by means of the largest telescope in the world—but Michelson did it.

For all his dedication to science, Albert Michelson was a man of many talents—he painted watercolors for relaxation; played the violin for family gatherings; spent many hours on the tennis courts; and his greatest indulgence was towards his lovely daughters who adored their versatile father.

From the dust jacket