1. Michelson used the motion of the Earth around the sun to try to determine the effects of the ether. Can you think of a more convenient experiment with a higher speed that Michelson might have used in the 1880s? What about today?
2. If you wanted to set out today to ?nd the effects of the ether, what experimental apparatus would you want to use? Would a laser be included? Why?
3. For what reasons would Michelson and Morley repeat their experiment on top of a mountain? Why would they perform the experiment in summer and winter?
4. Does the fact that Maxwell's equations do not need to be modi?ed because of the special theory of relativity, whereas Newton's laws of motion do, mean that Maxwell's work is somehow greater or more signi?cant than Newton's? Explain.