>In 1928, three years before his death, everyone said of Michelson, "He measured light," and today he is one of the few Nobel Prize winners whom nearly all educated people can name and give the reason for the award, although Michelson’s award actually was based on a wide spectrum of experiments.
I found this line (particularly "nearly all educated people can name and give the reason for the award") pretty amusing. Prior to this article, I'd heard of Michaelson, knew he was part of the Michelson and Morley experiment, and remembered a couple of details of the experiment design. But I also have a bachelors degree in physics, and I still couldn't have confidently told you whether he won a Nobel prize. I'm sure the intervening 50 years have dulled his fame a bit, but I've got to wonder how true it was when written.
I found this line (particularly "nearly all educated people can name and give the reason for the award") pretty amusing. Prior to this article, I'd heard of Michaelson, knew he was part of the Michelson and Morley experiment, and remembered a couple of details of the experiment design. But I also have a bachelors degree in physics, and I still couldn't have confidently told you whether he won a Nobel prize. I'm sure the intervening 50 years have dulled his fame a bit, but I've got to wonder how true it was when written.