George Francis Fitzgerald

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George Francis Fitzgerald

George Francis Fitzgerald 1851-1901, Irish physicist. Fitzgerald was born in Dublin and studied and taught at Trinity College there. He is best known for suggesting how the ether , by causing the contraction of bodies moving through it, could account for the null results of the Michelson-Morley experiment (see relativity ). His main research effort, however, was to work out the consequences of Maxwell's electromagnetic theory for phenomena not considered by Maxwell, such as the reflection and refraction of light.

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Fitzgerald, George Francis

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Â© World Encyclopedia 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Fitzgerald, George Francis (1851–1901) Irish physicist who researched electrolysis and electromagnetism and who is noted for his theory of electromagnetic radiation. As an explanation of the Michelson-Morley experiment to determine the Earth's movement through the ether, Fitzgerald suggested the theory that objects change length (the Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction) due to this type of movement. This theory was incorporated into Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity. See also Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon; Michelson, Albert Abraham

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