Evening star., 1932-05-01
"The sun do move "

Accompanied by the earth ana the
| rest Of its planetary family it demon
strably is sweeping through space at
the rate of approximately 46O Kllo-
meters an hour, DR.. N. Galli-ShChat OF
Bryn Mawr College told the American
Physical Society meeting at the Bureau
Of Standards Thursday.
Size presented mathematical recon-
! Citation of conflicting results which
have attended repetitions Of the cele-
| brated Michelson-Morley experiment. of
| daDe and led directly to the relativity
theory She also maintained the physi-
cal reality of the contraction of matter
| in the line of motion and is starting a
series of experiments which she believes
will demonstrate effectively this effect.
Nicholson Morley Experiment.
The Michelson-M experiment was
an attempt to measure the speed of the
earth without reference to any objects
outside the earth AstronomicalIy, it
was obvious that the earth was moving
in a very complicated fashion-on its
axis every "a hours and around the
sun once year. The speeds could be
measured very precisely. The expert
menters devised an apparatus by which
DSolIl VI uSIlL, HIOSc Speeu ID 1Ol
affected by the medium through which
1t moves, was split into two parts, each
of which was directed against a reflect
ing mirror. Both mirrors were euui-
distant from the light source One was
in the direction of the earth'S motion,
the other at right angles to it. Both
reflected the light back to its source.
Now the earth, and consequently the
apparatus itself, was moving in the di-
rection Of one of the returning beams.
Consequently 1t would have a shorter
distance to traverse to get back to its
source than the other beam. Conse-
quently the two should get back to their
common starting point at different
times. The difference was sufficient to
be measured with the delicate appara-
tus.
But, apparently In contradiction OF
all common sense, the two beams got
back at precisely the same time. The
physicists knew that the earth was
| moving by consulting an outside frame
OF reference, yet the result of the ex-
pertinent indicated very clearly that
the earth was not moving.
Lorenz- Fitzgerald Hypothesis.
One of the earliest attempts at rec
onciliation was the LorenZ- Fitzgerald
an assumption, in order to explain the
effect, that matter in motion contracted
| IN direct proportion to its speed. This
contraction was SO minute at such
speeds as could be attained on earth
| that it was unmeasurable but, as mov-
| ing object approached the speed of
| light, 1t became very great indeed. At
| the speed of light itself the dimension
| of a moving body in the line of motion
shrank to nothing. Under this hypothe-
| sis the table on which the late DR.. A
A. Nicholson had performed his expert
| ment was shrinking in the direction of
| the motion of the earth sufficiently
| to just compensate for the shortened
| distance which theoretically must be
| traversed by the returning light ray
But this was entirely a mathematical
| hypothesis without the support of any
| physical evidence.
Then came Prof Albert Einsteins
celebrated special theory of relatively
| which accounted for the same effect,
but upset all accepted notions of space
and time There have been numerous
repetitions of the Nicholson Morley ex-
pertinent with more delicate apparatus
| Some eXperimenterS have claimed that
they actually have detected difference
/ in the return time of the two light rays,
while others have confirmed the original
result. Prof. Nicholson himself re-
peated the experiment five years ago
and obtained the same effect as be-
fore. The most noteworthy exception
has been found in the tests of Prof
Dayton C. Miller of the Case School of
Applied Science of Cleveland, who OBJ
tanned a positive effect, but one which
showed a motion of the earth entirely
out Of porportion to its known motion
Frame of Reference Essential.
Both the Einstein and the Fitzgerald
LorenZ hypothesis maintained that the
motion of the earth never could be
measured without an outside frame of
reference. So far as the movement
of the globe itself on its axis or around
the sun is concerned, Nine. Galli-Sho-
hat told the physicists yesterday that
Is true because the contraction of mat
ter is a real event which actually occurs
in moving matter itself. She has re-
examined both the Miller and the
Nicholson results and found that they
fit into single picture if interpreted in
the light of sidereal rather than solar
time-that Is, time calculated from the
transit Of fixed stars rather than from
the earth'S rate Of rotation around the
sun.
The Miller results, she pointed out,
show no relation to the earth's move
ment with respect to the sun, but they
do vary almost perfectly when related
to the motion of the solar system as a
whole through the galaxy of stars OF
which it is a part. Astronomers dis
agree as to the actual rate of that
motion-calculatin n from 300 to 300
kilometers a second. This is a vastly
greater speed than any within the solar
system itself. The difference in return
times of the light beams, she pointed
out, would vary In relation to the posi-
ton of the solar system in space
Nothing but confusion could result when