Who was Albert Abraham Michelson?

Albert Abraham Michelson is a Nobel Prize-winning physicist best known for his work on the speed of light. In 1887, he was instrumental in carrying out the Michelson-Morley experiment, which provided strong evidence against the aether theory, the prevailing scientific theory of light and matter transference at the time.

Michelson studied at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., where he laid the early foundations for his experiments measuring the speed of light. He continued his work as a professor at the Case School of Applied Science, Clark University and the University of Chicago throughout the last half of the 19th century. In 1907, he became the first American to be awarded the Nobel Prize.