Michelson–Morley experiment
attempt to detect the relative motion of matter through the stationary luminiferous aether
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The Michelson-Morley experiment was an attempt to detect whether Earth moves through a stationary substance called the luminiferous aether, which scientists believed filled all of space and carried light waves. The experiment's surprising null result—finding no evidence of this motion—ultimately helped overturn the aether theory and paved the way for Einstein's theory of relativity.
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Michelson and Morley's interferometric setup, mounted on a stone slab that floats in an annular trough of mercury
The Michelson–Morley experiment was an attempt to measure the motion of the Earth relative to the luminiferous aether, a supposed medium permeating space that was thought to be the carrier of light waves. The experiment was performed between April and July 1887 by American physicists Albert A. Michelson and Edward W. Morley at what is now Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and published in November of the same year.