Dayton Miller 261365 222341355 2008-06-28T20:44:41Z Eubulides 3573537 Wikilink to [[Antiscientific]]. {{POV|date=March 2008}} {{Infobox_Scientist | name = Dayton C. Miller | image = | image_width = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1866|3|13}} | birth_place = [[Strongsville, Ohio]], [[United States|USA]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1941|2|22|1866|3|13}} | death_place = [[United States|USA]] | nationality = {{USA}} | field = [[Physicist]] | work_institution = [[Case School of Applied Science]] | alma_mater = [[Princeton University]] | doctoral_advisor = Charles A. Young | known_for = [[X-rays]]<br>[[Aether theory]]<br>[[Absolute space]]<br>[[Acoustics]] }} '''Dayton Clarence Miller''' ([[March 13]] [[1866]] - [[February 22]], [[1941]])<ref>[[Robert S. Shankland]], "Dayton Clarence Miller: Physics Across Fifty Years."</ref> <ref>Harvey Fletcher, "[http://books.nap.edu/html/biomems/dmiller.pdf Biographical Memoir of Dayton Clarence Miller 1866-1941]," ''National Academy of Sciences of the USA Biographical Memoirs'', V23, N3, 16pp (1943).</ref> <ref>Obituary, ''[http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=MDC Encyclopedia of Cleveland History]</ref> <ref>William J. Maynard, [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/dcmhtml/may0.html ''Dayton C. Miller: His Life, Work, and Contributions as a Scientist and Organologist]'', Master's thesis, Long Island University 1971).</ref> was an [[United States|American]] [[physicist]], [[astronomer]], [[acoustician]], and accomplished amateur [[flautist]]. An early experimenter of [[X-ray]]s, Miller was an advocate of [[aether theory]] and [[absolute space]] and an opponent of [[Albert Einstein]]'s [[theory of relativity]]. ==Biography== Born in [[Ohio]] to Charles Webster Dewey and Vienna Pomeroy Miller, he graduated from [[Baldwin University]] in [[1886]] and obtained a doctorate in [[astronomy]] at [[Princeton University]] under Charles A. Young in [[1890]]. Miller spent his entire career teaching [[astronomy]] at the [[Case School of Applied Science]] in [[Cleveland, Ohio]], as head of the [[physics]] department from [[1893]] until his retirement in [[1936]]. Following the discovery of [[X-ray]]s by [[Wilhelm Röntgen]] in [[1895]], Miller used [[cathode ray tube]]s built by [[William Crookes]] to make some of the first photographic images of concealed objects, including a bullet within a man's limb. Active in many scientific organization, Miller was a member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] and the [[American Philosophical Society]]. During the [[1920s]], he served as secretary, vice president, and president of the [[American Physical Society]] and as chairman of the division of Physical Sciences of the [[National Research Council]]. From [[1931]] to [[1933]] he was president of the [[Acoustical Society of America]]. ==Scientific Contributions== ===Aether research=== In [[1900]], he began work with [[Edward Morley]] on the detection of [[aether]] [[luminiferous aether|drift]],<ref>Henry T. Eddy, [[Edward W. Morley]], and Dayton C. Miller, "The Velocity of Light in the Magnetic Field," ''[http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PRI/v7/i5/p283_1 Physics Review]'', S1, V7, N5, pp. 283-295 (Dec 1898).</ref> at the time one of the "hot" areas of fundamental [[physics]]. Following on with the basic apparatus as the earlier [[Michelson-Morley experiment]], Miller and [[Edward Morley|Morley]] published another null result in [[1904]]. The [[experiment]]s concerned many physicists dealing with [[Albert Einstein]]'s [[theory of relativity]]. Miller continued with the experiment, conducting thousands of measurements and eventually developing the most accurate interferometer in the world at that time. The type of experimental apparatus Miller used was very delicate. Dayton Miller performed over 200,000 observations and experiments dealing with the [[Luminiferous aether|aether]] and [[aether]] drift.<ref>Dayton C. Miller, "Ether-drift Experiments at Mount Wilson Solar Observatory," ''[http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PR/v19/i4/p407_1 Physics Review]'', S2, V19, N4, pp. 407-408 (Apr 1922).</ref> A second publication in [[1926]]<ref>Dayton C. Miller, "Significance of Ether-drift Experiments of 1925 at Mount Wilson," Address of the President, American Physical Society, ''Science'', V63, pp. 433-443 (1926). A.A.A.S Prize paper.</ref> <ref>Dayton C. Miller, "Ether-drift Experiments at Mount Wilson in February, 1926, ''National Academy of Sciences'', Washington (Apr 1926) {''[http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PR/v27/i6/p794_1 Physics Review], S2, V27, N6, pp. 812 (Jun 1926)}.</ref> showed what appeared to be a small amount of drift, which Miller commented on at several meetings. A third, in [[1933]],<ref>Dayton C. Miller, "The Ether-Drift Experiment and the Determination of the Absolute Motion of the Earth," ''[http://prola.aps.org/abstract/RMP/v5/i3/p203_1 Rev. Mod. Phys.]'', V5, N3, pp. 203-242 (Jul 1933).</ref> <ref>George Joos & Dayton C. Miller, "Note on the Repetition of the Michelson-Morley Experiment," ''[http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PR/v45/i2/p114_1 Physics Review]'', S2, V45, N2, pp. 114 (Jan 1934).</ref> continued the theme. From [[1902]] to [[1933]] Miller performed experiments producing more accurate measurements. This work was published as a positive result for the existence of an aether drift. However, the effect Miller saw was tiny. In order for it to detect aether, the properties of aether drag would have to be more pronounced. Furthermore, the measurement was statistically far from any other measurements being carried on at the time, fringe shifts of about 0.01 were being observed in many experiments, while Miller's 0.08 was not duplicated anywhere else -- including Miller's own 1904 experiments with Morley, which showed a drift of only 0.015. The measurements are perfectly consistent with a fringe difference of zero -- the null result that every other experiment was recording. [[Albert Einstein|Einstein]] was interested in this [[aether]] drift theory and acknowledged that a positive result for the existence of aether would invalidate the theory of special relativity, but commented that [[altitude|altitudal]] influences and [[temperature]]s may have provided sources of error in the findings. Miller commented: :"The trouble with Professor [[Albert Einstein|Einstein]] is that he knows nothing about my results. ... He ought to give me credit for knowing that temperature differences would affect the results. He wrote to me in November suggesting this. I am not so simple as to make no allowance for temperature." During the [[1920s]] a number of experiments, both [[interferometry]] based, as in Miller's experiment, and others using entirely different techniques, were conducted and these returned a [[null result]] as well. Even at the time, Miller's work was increasingly considered to be a statistical anomaly, an opinion which remains true today,<ref name = "Roberts">Thomas J. Roberts, "[http://arxiv.org/pdf/physics/0608238 An Explanation of Dayton Miller's Anomalous 'Ether Drift' Result]," ''[http://www.arxiv.org/abs/physics/0608238 arXiv]'' (Oct 2006).</ref> given an ever growing body of negative results. ===Shankland analysis=== In [[1955]], [[Robert S. Shankland]], S. W. McCuskey, F. C. Leone, and G. Kuerti performed a re-analysis of Miller's results. [[Robert S. Shankland|Shankland]], who led the report, noted that the "signal" that Miller observed in [[1933]] is actually composed of points that are an average of several hundred measurements each, and the magnitude of the signal is more than 10 times smaller than the resolution with which the measurements were recorded. Miller's extraction of a single value for the measurement is statistically impossible, the data is too variable to say "this" number is any better than "that" -- the data, from Shankland's position, supports a null result as equally as Miller's positive. [[Robert S. Shankland|Shankland]] concluded that Miller's observed signal was partly due to statistical fluctuations and partly due to local temperature conditions and, also, suggested that the results of Miller were due to a [[systematic error]] rather than an observed existence of aether. In particular he felt that Miller did not take enough care in guarding against thermal gradients in the room where the experiment took place, as, unlike most interferometry experiments, Miller conducted his in a room where the apparatus was deliberately left open to the elements to some degree. In Shankland's analysis, no statistically significant signal for the existence of aether was found. Shankland concluded that Miller's observed signal was partly due to error rather than an observed existence of aether holding [[radiant energy]]. Thus, a large number of mainstream scientists today hold the conviction that any signal that Miller observed was the result of the [[experimenter effect]], which was a common source of systematic error before modern experimental techniques were developed (''ed'', Miller did publish an early textbook on [[experiment]]al [[scientific method|techniques]]; cf., Ginn & Company, 1903). William Broad and Nicholas Wade, reporters who wrote ''Betrayers of the Truth: Fraud in Science'' (1983), have stated that scientists should have reviewed Miller's research more seriously at the time, and that their refusal to do so is evidence of incompetence and unprofessional conduct. [http://www.sunysb.edu/philosophy/faculty/rcrease.html Robert Crease] argues that it would have been "irrational and unscientific" to suspend Einstein's theory because of a contrary experiment. In Crease's opinion, this would allow some [[antiscientific]] ideologues (eg., some Soviet scientists) to stop progress through falsification.<ref>Robert P Crease, "[http://physicsweb.org/article/world/15/12/2 Finding the flaw in falsifiability]," ''Physics World'' (Dec 2002).</ref> Relativists discount Miller's repeated attempts to bring [[relativity theory]] into question by citing several modern precision experiments,<ref name = Roberts/> <ref>[http://qom.physik.hu-berlin.de/ Institut für Physik]</ref> <ref>[http://qom.physik.hu-berlin.de/research_kt.htm Institut für Physik]</ref> <ref>Achim Peters, "[http://moriond.in2p3.fr/J03/transparencies/5_thursday/1_morning/peters.pdf New Optical Tests of Relativity on Earth and in Space]" (Mar 2003).</ref> <ref>Claus Lämmerzahl, Hansjörg Dittus, Achim Peters, Stefan Schiller, "[http://www.exphy.uni-duesseldorf.de/Publikationen/2001/L%E4mmerzahl-OPTIS-2001.pdf OPTIS: A Satellite-Based Test of Special and General Relativity]," ''[http://www.iop.org/Journals/cq Classical and Quantum Gravity]'', V18, p. 2499-2508 (2002).</ref> but dissidents have argued in fringe venues that Miller's objections still stand.<ref>''Hector Munera, [http://www.ensmp.fr/aflb/AFLB-272/aflb272p463.pdf The Effect of Solar Motion upon the Fringe-Shifts in a Michelson-Morley Interferometer µa la Miller]," ''Annales de la Fondation Louis de Broglie'', V27, N3, p. 463-484 (2002).</ref> <ref>"James DeMeo, [http://www.orgonelab.org/miller.htm Dayton Miller's Ether-Drift Experiments: A Fresh Look], Pulse of the Planet #5; (2002). James DeMeo, [http://www.orgonelab.org/DynamicEther.pdf A Dynamic And Substatantive Cosmicological Ether] Proceedings of the Natural Philosophy Alliance, Cynthia Whitney, Editor, Vol.1, No.1, Spring 2004. Arlington, MA. p.15-20.</ref> ===Other endeavors=== Dr. Miller published manuals designed to be student handbooks for the performance of experimental problems in physics. In [[1908]], Miller's interest in [[acoustics]] led him to develop a machine to record [[sound]] [[waves]] photographically, called the [[phonodeik]]. He used the machine to compare the [[waveform]]s produced by [[flute]]s crafted from different materials. During [[World War I]], Miller worked with the physical characteristics of pressure waves of large [[gun]]s at the request of the government. Dayton Miller was elected to the [[National Academy of Science]] in [[1921]]. He was a member of the [[United States National Research Council|National Research Council]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] from [[1927]] to [[1930]]. <ref>[http://www.ohiosci.org/OHIOSCIENCE200APPENDIX.htm The Ohio Academy of Science].</ref> ==Published works== * Laboratory Physics, a Student's Manual for Colleges and Scientific Schools. (New York: Ginn & Company, 1903) * The Science of Musical Sounds (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1916, revised 1926) * Anecdotal History of the Science of Sound (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1935) * Sound Waves: Their Shape and Speed (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937) * Sparks, Lightning and Cosmic Rays (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1939) * [http://prola.aps.org/abstract/RMP/v5/i3/p203_1 The Ether-Drift Experiments and the Determination of the Absolute Motion of the Earth] (Reviews of Modern Physics 5, 203-242 (1933)) ==See also== * [[Aether]] and [[Luminiferous aether]] * [[History of physics]] * [[List of physics topics]] * [[Michelson-Morley experiment]] ==References and external links== <references/> ''Main'' * "''[http://www.todayinsci.com/3/3_13.htm Dayton Clarence Miller]''". Today in Science, March 13 - births. * "''[http://www.aip.org/history/esva/catalog/esva/Miller_Clarence.html Dayton Miller images]''". American Institute of Physics, 2003. ''Other endeavors'' * [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/dcmhtml/dmhome.html Dayton C. Miller Flute Collection] at The Library of Congress. * [http://www.phys.cwru.edu/ccpi/ Dayton Miller's acoustics collection], describing his research in acoustics * "''[http://www.srm.com/1916/lecture3phonodeik.html The Phonodeik]''". The science of musical sounds. * "''[http://people.deas.harvard.edu/~jones/cscie129/supplements/Miller/miller.html Professor Dayton Miller's Research in Acoustics]''". Engineering Sciences E-129. * "''[http://www.cwru.edu/artsci/dittrick/artifactspages/b-4tubes.htm Crookes x-ray tubes]''" Dittrick Medical History Center, Case Western Reserve University. 2004. [[Category:American physicists|Miller, Dayton]] [[Category:X-rays]] [[Category:People from Cuyahoga County, Ohio|Miller, Dayton]] [[Category:1866 births|Miller, Dayton]] [[Category:1941 deaths|Miller, Dayton]] [[de:Dayton Miller]]