SUMMARY: This offering is a Michelson
family archive of manuscripts that contains an ALS by Albert
Michelson: Price:On Request
Albert Abraham Michelson (1852
-1931) was a Prussian-born
American physicist known for his work on the measurement of the
speed of light and especially for the Michelson-Morley experiment.
In 1907 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics. He became
the first American to receive the Nobel Prize . The prize
recognized two of Michelson's accomplishments: his design of
extremely sensitive optical (light-gathering) instruments, and
the accurate measurements of the speed of light were made using
those instruments.
Michelson began his career in
science after he he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy where
he had been appointed as a midshipman by president Grant.In fact,
he began his experiments on determining the speed of light when
he joined the faculty after graduation. In Michelson's day you
could become a career physicist without any advanced degree.
Michelson did study with Hemholtz in Europe for two years and
later he joined the Ryerson physics laboratory at the University
of Chicago.During his career Michelson had many achievements
in addition to his early determination of the speed of light
including his first measurement of the size of a star (a first)
and on a more practical basis he also developed a range finder
for the U.S. Navy.He has a building named for him at University
of Chicago and at the U.S. Naval Academy and one of the craters
on the moon bears his name.
Michelson was part of the beginning
development of American dominance of the field of physics which
prior to 1900 had been the domain of the Europeans.His era saw
seminal experiments and discoveries in optics, electromagnetism
and electricity among other fields. The accurate determination
of the speed of light was one of the major achievements of this
era because proving that the speed of light is constant in a
vacuum helped establish a foundation for the later development
of the theory of general and special relativity.
Albert Michelson is one of the
rarest autographs among American Nobel Laureate or scientists
in general. In fact we could find only two auction records of
a sale of his material. His handwriting manifests excellent
penmanship and has a decidedly feminine style.This offering is
in part an ALS written to his wife and reads--"My Dear
Wife You did not say how much you wanted--I enclose a check for
$250.00. I said you could get two gowns before you left here.
Albert" The letter is accompanied by a transmittal envelope
addressed in Michelson's hand to "Mrs. Albert A. Michelson
" which is the equivalent of his autograph.The
letter is postmarked Chicago, September 28th, 1896 and the letter
was dated September 26th of the same year.The Michelsons were
divorced a year later.
Also included in this collection
was a printed card addressed to Michelson at the Ryerson Laboratory
from Elizabeth Hertz. Elizabeth Hertz was the widow of Heinrich
Hertz who died at age 36.The Hertz unit that defines the
wavelength of any electromagnetic radiation is is named for him.
This letter is part of an archive
of correspondence which we assume belonged to his first wife
Margaret Heminway who married Albert Michelson in 1827 and
had three children with her : Albert Heminway, Truman, and Elsa.
This first marriage ended in divorce in 1897.The archive of
approximately 35 pieces consists mainly of postcards letters
with transmittal envelopes all relating to Mrs.Michelson or the
children-example of one grouping below.
Price:On Request.
The items will be come with a
letter of provenance as to its origin,
history and authenticity.
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