The
Michelson–Morley experiment was performed over the spring and summer of 1887 by
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. It compared the speed of light in perpendicular directions, in an attempt to detect the
relative motion of matter through the stationary
luminiferous aether ("aether wind"). The result was negative, in that the expected difference between the speed of light in the direction of movement through the presumed aether, and the speed at right angles, was found not to exist; this result is generally considered to be the first strong evidence against the then-prevalent
aether theory, and initiated a line of research that eventually led to
special relativity, which rules out a stationary aether. The experiment has been referred to as "the moving-off point for the theoretical aspects of the Second Scientific Revolution".