Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-10
Prof. NICHOLSON
.D|ESiN CALIFORNIA
Work Completed on Final
Experiment, Noted Physicist
4 Expires In Sleep.
tcontinuea prom EIrst Pagel

with whom he had worked for long
DR.. walter s. Adams, speaking for
the group Of scientists at the Mount
Wilson Observatory said:
.''The death OF DR.. Nicholson comes
as q great shock to all OF us at the
observatory. As a research associate Oh
the Carnegie Institute OF washington,
he has been connected with us Tor
many years and our admiration Tor
his keen and brilliant mind has been
Joined to q. deep affection Tor MS
friendly and delightful personality. j..
a'Dr. Michelson was not only one OF
the greatest scientists Of the age but a
cosmopolitan in the true sense WITH
a wide knowledge OF the WORLD, Oh
life and of art His contributions 10
science will remain as an inspiration
and model to all future investigators.
THE observatory and the community
miss him more than can express.
Born In Germany.
Prof. Michelson was born in Ger
many December 10. 1852, coming to
this country when very young and at
tending school at San Francisco. He
entered the Naval Academy in 1863.
Among his many honors, Prof.
Miehelson received the Copley Medal
of the ROYAL Society of England and
also was q member of that society ana
the French Academy. In 1928 he was
elected president Of the National Acad-
envy of Sciences.
The following are some OF the Things
the professor accomplished in his sci
entihc Investigations:
Devised an instrument called the
echelon spectroseope, by which the ell
fects of magnetism on light waves can
Measured the earth tides-the ebb
and now of the glebe-thus corTohorat-
Ing the planetesmial theory OF 7. c.
At the age of rs, with an instrument
constructed by himself at a cost OF $40,
corrected Fizeau's and Fouccult's cal
eulatiens of q quarter of a century be-
fore on the velocity OF light.
Measured Tiny Distances.
Measured with accuracy incredibly
minute distances IN terms Of the waves
of light of q fixed position in the
spectrum. When 1t is remembered that
the length of light wave varies from
$4,000 of an inch for red to
1-5s, 000th of an inch for violet, the
delicacy of his operations may be faint
" eornprehended by the layman.
Determined with his linear inter-
feFameter the length Of the standard
meter in terms of cadmium light waves,
thus obtaining an absolutely invariahle
standard by which any gradual minute
changes In the standard meter bar of
platinum-iridium (preEerved in Paris)
may be checked. The work required
two years and Is almost as classic
among scientists rs 'Galileo's expert
ments with the pendulum. 1t put the
meter on foundation as permanent as
the universe.
Extended the use Of the interferom-
eter to astronomy in connection with
the telescope, making it extraordinarily
useful to astronomers through its pow
er to resolve the light from the various
stars into particular and peculiar kinds
Of radiation: Also, by his study of the
characteristics Of radiations-inr their
. form of naotion-he greatly increased
the range Of spectroseopy.
Found ReteIgsuse Diameter.
ny his method Of determining the
diameter Of fixed star showed man.
kind that there are suns, or fiery
gnseOus balls, nearly 800 times as great
az our SUM- He thus opened up q field
Of stdereal investigation that had been
cl0sed-the measurement Of stars and
Of remote solar systems. One Of his
tiumphs was the measurement Of the
great star Betelgeuse-260, 900, 600 miles
In diameter,
machine for tracing compound curves.
and the tnterfeFometer, an instrument
fer studying the lines Of the spectrum
ana for measuring linear differences of
q mtlltonth Of an inch and angles
So hne that two lines drawn at such
an angle could not separate the width
OF pinhead If prolonged for over a
mile. HiG an01IlaP infarfQFaraafar will
show displacement in steel bar an
inch thick and six inches long II it
be SO much as twisted between thumb
and forehnger. His harmonic analyzer
VIII take q complex periodic motion
and resolve it into set Of simple
pendulum motions.
Kept Up on Athletics.
When past 10 years of age he deter
mined the speed of hight, long given
In round figures as 10000 miles per
second, within 20 miles per second of
its exact value, and In 1929 he began
his Anal experiments, hoping to reduce
his measurements to the millinth de-
gree of error.
Severe illness In the Autumn Of 1929
interrupted and almost terminated his
scientific work. Even up TO the age OF
rs he had maintained his interest in
athletics, and was better than average
ON the tennis courts Of the university.
But q major operation that Autumn
was succeeded by pneumonia. and for
q time his recovery was doubted. His
sturdy constitution stood the strain,
however, and he recovered sufficiently
to resume experiments in the Summer
Of 1890.
At that time he was relieved Of active
professional duties and became pro-
lessor emeritus, taking up his residence
In California.
During his long and active career
as a scientist, DR.. Nicholson held pro-
fesSorShips In nine universities in the
United States and Europe, was men,
Der OF q score of scientific societies
and received honors and degrees from
the foremost institutions OF learning IN
the world.
When he was graduated from the
Naval Academy in 1873, the superin-
tendent remarked: IF you'd give less
attention TO those scientific things and
more TO your naval gunnery, theirs
might come time when you would
know enough TO be of some use to
your country"
once Prof. Halleck Of Columbia said
of him: If we are ever to have in
terpIanetary communication, it will be
by means of Michelson's discovery OF
light waves. He has obtained the onf
unit of measurement that we know tc
be the same on Mars and on the
earth"
WANTED TO LIVE TO BE 100.