Notable people · Science
Dayton C. Miller
Physicist at Case School of Applied Science (department head 1893-1936), early X-ray experimenter and long-time ether-drift researcher. Born in Strongsville, he died in Cleveland.
At a glance
- Born
- 1866-03-13
- Died
- 1941-02-22
- Education
- Baldwin University, Berea, OH, to 1886
- Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, to 1890, doctorate in astronomy
- Known as
- Science
- Organizations
- Case School of Applied Science
Life story
Dayton Miller was born in Strongsville, Ohio, in 1866. He graduated from Baldwin University in 1886 and earned a doctorate in astronomy at Princeton in 1890.
He spent his whole career at Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, heading the physics department from 1893 until he retired in 1936.
Hearing of Rontgen's discovery in 1895 he made some of the first X-ray photographs, including a bullet inside a man's limb. In 1908 he invented the phonodeik, which recorded sound waves photographically, and studied flute acoustics.
From 1900 he and Edward Morley ran many interferometer experiments looking for an ether wind. Miller reported a small drift, later blamed on systematic errors and temperature effects. He died in Cleveland in 1941.
Timeline
- 1866-03-13: Born (Strongsville, OH) source
- 1886: Graduated Baldwin University (Berea, OH) source
- 1890: Doctorate in astronomy, Princeton (Princeton, NJ) source
- 1893: Head of physics, Case School of Applied Science (Cleveland, OH) source
- 1895: Early X-ray photographs (Cleveland, OH) source
- 1900: Ether-drift experiments begin with Morley (Cleveland, OH) source
- 1908: Invented the phonodeik (Cleveland, OH) source
- 1925: President, American Physical Society (US) source
- 1936: Retired from Case (Cleveland, OH) source
- 1941-02-22: Died (Cleveland, OH) source
What Dayton is known for
- Early X-ray photographs
- Ether-drift measurements, later reanalyzed by Shankland (1955) as artifacts
- President American Physical Society 1925
- Founded Acoustical Society of America
- Phonodeik (1908)
- Flute acoustics studies
- Ether-drift experiments (1900 onward)
Honors and things named for them
- National Academy of Sciences (1921)
- President, American Physical Society (1925)
- President, Acoustical Society of America (1931-1933)
- Elliott Cresson Medal (1927)
Family
- father: Charles Webster Dewey Miller
Ohio places
Where Dayton C. Miller was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.
- Born: Strongsville, Cuyahoga County ZIP 44136 · Strongsville · Cuyahoga County
- Worked: Cleveland (Case School of Applied Science), Cuyahoga County (10900 Euclid Ave (present Case Western campus)) ZIP 44106 · Cleveland · Cuyahoga County
Myths and corrections
- Miller's reported ether drift of about 9 km/s was later attributed to systematic and temperature errors; relativity stands.
Further reading
Sources
Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.
- Dayton Miller (Wikipedia) dates, Strongsville, Case 1893-1936, X-rays, ether drift, APS