[Letter to George F. Fitzgerald from Sir Oliver Lodge].
Title
[Letter to George F. Fitzgerald from Sir Oliver Lodge].
Creator
Identifier
GFF 2/23
Subject
Description
Handwritten letter from Sir Oliver Lodge, to George F. Fitzgerald, without date. Lodge is writing to arrange a meeting of the British Association of the Advancement of Science. He also discusses Michelson and Morley's experiment to detect the relative motion of matter. 2pp.
Transcription:
"Φ
Delighted to hear you will be at Perrys. Hope he will get his shop locked before I come. I don't come until Wed every.
I will fix the BA meeting on Fri 8th at 3pm if possible at [A?] St. But I am 1st writing to ask Glazebrook if that will do for him. He rather wants Thursday. What hour on Thursday is your brand of [G?].
I have very carefully gone into Michelson and Morley's theory, working it for any obliquity - not only for 0° and 90°. And after many [m?] and much scepticism have reluctantly come to the conclusion that they are right (it by no means follows that they are, though). [Sliding?] motion doesn't alter result of comm but it lengthens the path. Cosine-wise. Rays, always rays, when direction has to be considered. Yes a departure from French law has its consequences, all contrary to experiment, unless ether near earth is [?] stagnant.
There are ad lib of 4ps which require either French Law or Stagnation and M&M requires the last. But then I haven't been through the exps and things with JJT in my mind yet. Instead to when I've time. But wait for my spinning disk exp and see what that says!!!
Λ "
Transcription:
"Φ
Delighted to hear you will be at Perrys. Hope he will get his shop locked before I come. I don't come until Wed every.
I will fix the BA meeting on Fri 8th at 3pm if possible at [A?] St. But I am 1st writing to ask Glazebrook if that will do for him. He rather wants Thursday. What hour on Thursday is your brand of [G?].
I have very carefully gone into Michelson and Morley's theory, working it for any obliquity - not only for 0° and 90°. And after many [m?] and much scepticism have reluctantly come to the conclusion that they are right (it by no means follows that they are, though). [Sliding?] motion doesn't alter result of comm but it lengthens the path. Cosine-wise. Rays, always rays, when direction has to be considered. Yes a departure from French law has its consequences, all contrary to experiment, unless ether near earth is [?] stagnant.
There are ad lib of 4ps which require either French Law or Stagnation and M&M requires the last. But then I haven't been through the exps and things with JJT in my mind yet. Instead to when I've time. But wait for my spinning disk exp and see what that says!!!
Λ "
Source
RDS Library & Archives GFF collection of letters
Rights
Copyright RDS Library & Archives. Publication, transmission or display is prohibited without formal written approval of the RDS Library & Archives.
Relation
RDS Science Archive
Format
Manuscript
Language
English
Type
Coverage
1870-1901
Collection
Citation
Lodge, Oliver, Sir, 1851-1940, “[Letter to George F. Fitzgerald from Sir Oliver Lodge].,” RDS Digital Archive, accessed July 11, 2025, https://digitalarchive.rds.ie/items/show/1285.