Robert S. Shankland
Encyclopedia
Robert Sherwood Shankland (January 11, 1908 - March 1, 1982) was an American
physicist
and historian
.
from 1925–1929 and received his master's degree
in 1933. He completed his Ph.D.
degree in 1935 for work on photon scattering
with Arthur Compton
at the University of Chicago
. His other research included work on the ionosphere
and standard frequency
regulations from 1929-1930 with the US National Bureau of Standards, and worked in England on sonar
for submarine
warfare early in World War II
.
Shankland's report on the Albert Michelson's Irvine Ranch experiments was published in 1933. In the British journal Nature
, Shankland gave the historical background of how Einstein
formulates the first two principle
s, in 1905, of the special theory of relativity from the Michelson-Morley experiment
. Shankland believed that the accepted direct explanation for the Michelson-Morley experiment
is provided by the special theory of relativity given by Einstein in 1905. Shankland recorded that Michelson's Santa Ana trip was to look at the science of the aether
. Physicist
s consider the results of Dayton C. Miller's tests on Mount Wilson
more accurate
than Michelson's.
After completing graduate studies he joined the faculty at Case School for Applied Sciences
. In 1941 he succeeded Dayton C. Miller as the Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics at Case, a position he held until his retirement in 1976. Shankland worked on neutrino
experiments with Argonne National Laboratory
from 1953–1969, and had other interests including the history of relativity and architectural acoustics. He collaborated with George Szell
, the director of the Cleveland Orchestra
, to improve the acoustics of Severance Hall
, making it easier for musicians to hear each other on the stage.
Shankland's father, Frank North Shankland, was the author of "Modern Romances" and several books on birds and animals. In 1929 Shankland married Hilda Catherine Kinneson. They had five children: Ruth Ellen, Dorothy Margaret, Lois Virginia, Ava Gertrude, and Sherwood Jean, and 14 grandchildren. Hilda died in 1970 and he married Eleanor Newlin. Shankland was a passionate outdoorsman and a knowledgeable collector of iron animal traps and Native American artifacts.
's interferometric results could be caused by thermal fluctuations and therefore be consistent with special relativity
; Shankland's explanation is now accepted by most mainstream scientists.
In 1925-1926, Dayton Miller performed interferometric observations at Mount Wilson, similar to the Michelson-Morley experiment
, that appeared to reflect a measurable drift of the Earth
through the luminiferous aether
, in apparent contradiction with other experiments of that type and with relativity's prediction that no aether should be observable.
In 1955, Shankland published a paper analyzing Miller's data, arguing that "the small periodic fringe displacements found by Miller are due in part to statistical fluctuations in the readings of the fringe positions in a very difficult experiment" and "the remaining systematic effects are ascribed to local temperature conditions." Moreover, he argues that the thermal gradients responsible for the effects "were much more troublesome at Mount Wilson than those encountered by experimenters elsewhere, including Miller himself in his work done at Case in Cleveland." In a 1973 review paper on the experimental development of relativity, Shankland included an August 31, 1954 letter to him by Einstein agreeing with his analysis. (Shankland had sent Einstein a manuscript prior to its publication.) Einstein wrote:
In Shankland's re-analysis, no statistically significant signal for the existence of aether was found. The analysis is accepted by mainstream
physicists, the abandonment of the concept of the aether is nearly universal, and Miller's observed signal is believed the result of experimenter's bias
; 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.
Though Maurice Allais
and James DeMeo do not accept Shankland's refutation and hold to the belief that Miller's experiment invalidates the theory of relativity, Einstein's theory is today regarded by most physicists as proven.
----
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
and historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
.
Biography
Robert S. Shankland was an undergraduate at the Case School for Applied SciencesCase Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
from 1925–1929 and received his master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in 1933. He completed his Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
degree in 1935 for work on photon scattering
Compton scattering
In physics, Compton scattering is a type of scattering that X-rays and gamma rays undergo in matter. The inelastic scattering of photons in matter results in a decrease in energy of an X-ray or gamma ray photon, called the Compton effect...
with Arthur Compton
Arthur Compton
Arthur Holly Compton was an American physicist and Nobel laureate in physics for his discovery of the Compton effect. He served as Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis from 1945 to 1953.-Early years:...
at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. His other research included work on the ionosphere
Ionosphere
The ionosphere is a part of the upper atmosphere, comprising portions of the mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere, distinguished because it is ionized by solar radiation. It plays an important part in atmospheric electricity and forms the inner edge of the magnetosphere...
and standard frequency
Frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency...
regulations from 1929-1930 with the US National Bureau of Standards, and worked in England on sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
for submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
warfare early in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Shankland's report on the Albert Michelson's Irvine Ranch experiments was published in 1933. In the British journal Nature
Nature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
, Shankland gave the historical background of how Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
formulates the first two principle
Theory
The English word theory was derived from a technical term in Ancient Greek philosophy. The word theoria, , meant "a looking at, viewing, beholding", and referring to contemplation or speculation, as opposed to action...
s, in 1905, of the special theory of relativity from the Michelson-Morley experiment
Michelson-Morley experiment
The Michelson–Morley experiment was performed in 1887 by Albert Michelson and Edward Morley at what is now Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Its results are generally considered to be the first strong evidence against the theory of a luminiferous ether and in favor of special...
. Shankland believed that the accepted direct explanation for the Michelson-Morley experiment
Michelson-Morley experiment
The Michelson–Morley experiment was performed in 1887 by Albert Michelson and Edward Morley at what is now Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Its results are generally considered to be the first strong evidence against the theory of a luminiferous ether and in favor of special...
is provided by the special theory of relativity given by Einstein in 1905. Shankland recorded that Michelson's Santa Ana trip was to look at the science of the aether
Luminiferous aether
In the late 19th century, luminiferous aether or ether, meaning light-bearing aether, was the term used to describe a medium for the propagation of light....
. Physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
s consider the results of Dayton C. Miller's tests on Mount Wilson
Mount Wilson (California)
Mount Wilson is one of the better known peaks in the San Gabriel Mountains, part of the Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles County, California. It is the location of the Mount Wilson Observatory and has become the astronomical center of Southern California with and telescopes, and and tall...
more accurate
ACCURATE
ACCURATE was established in 2005 by a group of computer scientists, psychologists and policy experts to address problems with electronic voting...
than Michelson's.
After completing graduate studies he joined the faculty at Case School for Applied Sciences
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
. In 1941 he succeeded Dayton C. Miller as the Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics at Case, a position he held until his retirement in 1976. Shankland worked on neutrino
Neutrino
A neutrino is an electrically neutral, weakly interacting elementary subatomic particle with a half-integer spin, chirality and a disputed but small non-zero mass. It is able to pass through ordinary matter almost unaffected...
experiments with Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is the first science and engineering research national laboratory in the United States, receiving this designation on July 1, 1946. It is the largest national laboratory by size and scope in the Midwest...
from 1953–1969, and had other interests including the history of relativity and architectural acoustics. He collaborated with George Szell
George Szell
George Szell , originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer...
, the director of the Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
, to improve the acoustics of Severance Hall
Severance Hall
Severance Hall is a concert hall located in the University Circle neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. The hall has been the home of the Cleveland Orchestra since its opening on February 5, 1931...
, making it easier for musicians to hear each other on the stage.
Shankland's father, Frank North Shankland, was the author of "Modern Romances" and several books on birds and animals. In 1929 Shankland married Hilda Catherine Kinneson. They had five children: Ruth Ellen, Dorothy Margaret, Lois Virginia, Ava Gertrude, and Sherwood Jean, and 14 grandchildren. Hilda died in 1970 and he married Eleanor Newlin. Shankland was a passionate outdoorsman and a knowledgeable collector of iron animal traps and Native American artifacts.
Analysis of the Miller experiment
Shankland performed a debated analysis on how Dayton MillerDayton Miller
Dayton Clarence Miller was an American physicist, astronomer, acoustician, and accomplished amateur flautist...
's interferometric results could be caused by thermal fluctuations and therefore be consistent with special relativity
Special relativity
Special relativity is the physical theory of measurement in an inertial frame of reference proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein in the paper "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies".It generalizes Galileo's...
; Shankland's explanation is now accepted by most mainstream scientists.
In 1925-1926, Dayton Miller performed interferometric observations at Mount Wilson, similar to the Michelson-Morley experiment
Michelson-Morley experiment
The Michelson–Morley experiment was performed in 1887 by Albert Michelson and Edward Morley at what is now Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Its results are generally considered to be the first strong evidence against the theory of a luminiferous ether and in favor of special...
, that appeared to reflect a measurable drift of the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
through the luminiferous aether
Luminiferous aether
In the late 19th century, luminiferous aether or ether, meaning light-bearing aether, was the term used to describe a medium for the propagation of light....
, in apparent contradiction with other experiments of that type and with relativity's prediction that no aether should be observable.
In 1955, Shankland published a paper analyzing Miller's data, arguing that "the small periodic fringe displacements found by Miller are due in part to statistical fluctuations in the readings of the fringe positions in a very difficult experiment" and "the remaining systematic effects are ascribed to local temperature conditions." Moreover, he argues that the thermal gradients responsible for the effects "were much more troublesome at Mount Wilson than those encountered by experimenters elsewhere, including Miller himself in his work done at Case in Cleveland." In a 1973 review paper on the experimental development of relativity, Shankland included an August 31, 1954 letter to him by Einstein agreeing with his analysis. (Shankland had sent Einstein a manuscript prior to its publication.) Einstein wrote:
- I thank you very much for sending me your careful study about the Miller experiments. Those experiments, conducted with so much care, merit, of course, a very careful statistical investigation. This is more so as the existence of a not trivial positive effect would affect very deeply the fundament of theoretical physics as it is presently accepted.
- You have shown convincingly that the observed effect is outside the range of accidental deviations and must, therefore, have a systematic cause. You made it quite probable that this systematic cause has nothing to do with "ether-wind," but has to do with differences of temperature of the air traversed by the two light bundles which produced the bands of interference. Such an effect is indeed practically inevitable if the walls of the laboratory room have a not negligible difference in temperature.
- It is one of the cases where the systematic errors are increasing quickly with the dimension of the apparatus.
In Shankland's re-analysis, no statistically significant signal for the existence of aether was found. The analysis is accepted by mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
physicists, the abandonment of the concept of the aether is nearly universal, and Miller's observed signal is believed the result of experimenter's bias
Experimenter's bias
In experimental science, experimenter's bias is subjective bias towards a result expected by the human experimenter. David Sackett, in a useful review of biases in clinical studies, states that biases can occur in any one of seven stages of research:...
; 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.
Though Maurice Allais
Maurice Allais
Maurice Félix Charles Allais was a French economist, and was the 1988 winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics "for his pioneering contributions to the theory of markets and efficient utilization of resources."...
and James DeMeo do not accept Shankland's refutation and hold to the belief that Miller's experiment invalidates the theory of relativity, Einstein's theory is today regarded by most physicists as proven.
External links and references
- AIP International Catalog of Sources, summary of Robert S. Shankland audio archive.
- James DeMeo, "Dayton Miller's Ether-Drift Experiments: A Fresh Look"
- Allais, Maurice, "The experiments of Dayton C. Miller (1925 - 1926) and the Theory of Relativity". 21st century - Science & Technology. Spring 1998.
- "The experiments by Dayton C Miller (1925-1926) and relativity theory". (GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
)
- "The experiments by Dayton C Miller (1925-1926) and relativity theory". (German
- Allais, Maurice, "Very significant regularities in the interferometric observations of Dayton C. Miller 1925-1926". French Academy of Sciences, January 23, 1997.
- Allais, Maurice, "New very significant regularities in the interferometric observations of Dayton C. Miller 1925-1926". French Academy of Sciences, April 26, 1999.
- Allais, Maurice, "The origin of the very significant regularities displayed in the interferometric observations of Dayton C. Miller 1925-1926: temperatures effects or space anisotropy?". French Academy of Sciences, December 2000
- "The Effect of solar motion upon the fringe-shifts in a Michelson-Morley interferometer a la Miller". Annales de la Fondation Louis de Broglie, Volume 27 no 3, 2002 463. (PDFPortable Document FormatPortable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
) - "The Michelson Speed of Light Experiment at the Irvine Ranch"
- Time and Eternity -- Chapter1
- Time : The Scientific Account http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?p=11278#post11278
- R. S. Shankland, S. W. McCuskey, F. C. Leone, and G. Kuerti, "New analysis of the interferometric observations of Dayton C. Miller," Rev. Mod. Phys. 27, 167–178 (1955).
- R. S. Shankland, "Michelson's role in the development of relativity," Applied Optics 12 (10), 2280 (1973).
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Appendix: partial list of Shankland's publications
- R. S. Shankland, "An apparent failure of the photon theory of scattering," Phys. Rev. 49, 8-13 (1936).
- R. S. Shankland, J. W. Coltman, "Departure of overtones of vibrating wire from true harmonic series," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 10 (3), 161-166 (1939).
- R. S. Shankland, "Analysis of pulses by means of harmonic analyzer," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 12 (3), 383-386 (1941).
- E. W. Samuel, R. S. Shankland, "Sound field of Straubel X-cut crystal," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 22 (5), 589-592 (1950).
- R. S. Shankland, S. W. McCuskey, F. C. Leone, and G. Kuerti, "New analysis of the interferometric observations of Dayton C. Miller," Rev. Mod. Phys. 27, 167–178 (1955).
- H. J. Ormestad, R. S. Shankland, A. H. Benade, "Reverberation time characteristics of Severance Hall," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 32 (3), 371-375 (1960).
- R. S. Shankland, Atomic and Nuclear Physics (Macmillan: New York, 1960).
- R. S. Shankland, "Michelson-Morley experiment," Am. J. Phys. 32 (1), 16-35 (1964).
- R. S. Shankland, "Quality of reverberation," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 43 (3), 426-430 (1968).
- R. S. Shankland, ed., Scientific Papers of Arthur Holly Compton, (University of ChicagoUniversity of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
Press: Chicago, 1973). - R. S. Shankland, "Michelson's role in the development of relativity," Applied Optics 12 (10), 2280 (1973).
- R. S. Shankland, "Conversations with Einstein," Am. J. Physics 41 (7), 895-901 (1973).
- R. S. Shankland, "Acoustics of Greek theaters," Physics Today 26 (10), 30 (1973).
- R. S. Shankland, "Michelson and his interferometer," Physics Today 27 (4), 37 (1974)
- R. S. Shankland, "Michelson: America's first Nobel-prize winner in science," Bulletin of the American Physical Society 21 (4), 601-602 (1976).
- R. S. Shankland, "Architectural Acoustics in America to 1930," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 61 (2), 250-254 (1977).
- R. S. Shankland, "Acoustical designing for performers," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 65 (1), 140-144 (1979).
- R. S. Shankland, "Einstein, Albert — In Remembrance," Biography — An Interdisciplinary Quarterly 2 (3), 190-200 (1979)