Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

I don't think many people today would be able to propose the Michelson Morley experiment and then actually do it. It was truly heoric (and Michelson was a genius).

We did this oil/water experiment in freshman physics or chemistry lab. It was rushed, everybody just did the minimum, the teachers barely explained any of it, and then we moved on.






I agree. The Michelson Morley experiment reminds me of some difficult algorithms: simple only in hindsight, and implementation is _hard_ to do correctly.

People still win Nobel prizes (LIGO, for example) using interferometers. It’s arguably the single greatest invention in experimental physics.



Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: