DeWitt Bristol Brace (January 5, 1859 – October 2, 1905) was an American

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate ca ...

who was known for his optical experiments, especially as regards the relative motion of Earth and the

luminiferous aether Luminiferous aether or ether ("luminiferous", meaning "light-bearing") was the postulated medium for the propagation of light. It was invoked to explain the ability of the apparently wave-based light to propagate through empty space (a vacuum), s ...

Life and work

Brace was born in

Wilson, New York Wilson is a town in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 5,993 at the 2010 census. The town was named after an early settler, Reuben Wilson, who built and dwelt in a log cabin on the shore of Lake Ontario at the site of wh ...

, prepared for his studies in Lockport and graduated in 1881 at the

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original c ...

. Afterwards he spent two years at the

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consiste ...

with Henry Augustus Rowland, and two years at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (german: link=no, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick Will ...

under

Hermann von Helmholtz Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (31 August 1821 – 8 September 1894) was a German physicist and physician who made significant contributions in several scientific fields, particularly hydrodynamic stability. The Helmholtz Associatio ...

and

Gustav Kirchhoff Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (; 12 March 1824 – 17 October 1887) was a German physicist who contributed to the fundamental understanding of electrical circuits, spectroscopy, and the emission of black-body radiation by heated objects. He coin ...

, where he graduated in 1885. From 1887 to 1888 he was

assistant professor Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree and gene ...

at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and from 1888 to 1905 Professor of

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rel ...

at the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Univer ...

. There, Brace founded the Physics Laboratory, but he fell ill in 1905 and died at the time of opening of the new laboratory that still bears his name. Brace was mainly concerned with researches on

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultra ...

. For example, he invented new types of polarizing filters. He carried out a series of experiments which should determine the state of motion of the earth in the ether ("ether drift"), but the results were all negative. Particularly important was the improved version of an experiment by

Lord Rayleigh John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, (; 12 November 1842 – 30 June 1919) was an English mathematician and physicist who made extensive contributions to science. He spent all of his academic career at the University of Cambridge. Amo ...

, where he demonstrated with great accuracy that the Lorentz contraction does not lead to

birefringence Birefringence is the optical property of a material having a refractive index that depends on the polarization and propagation direction of light. These optically anisotropic materials are said to be birefringent (or birefractive). The birefrin ...

. He also attempted to measure the

speed of light The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant that is important in many areas of physics. The speed of light is exactly equal to ). According to the special theory of relativity, is the upper limit fo ...

with great precision, but he died in the midst of his work. Brace was a fellow and vice president of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsi ...

, and member of the Council of the American Physical Society.

Publications

On Double Refraction in Matter moving through the Aether On, on, or ON may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * On (band), a solo project of Ken Andrews * ''On'' (EP), a 1993 EP by Aphex Twin * ''On'' (Echobelly album), 1995 * ''On'' (Gary Glitter album), 2001 * ''On'' (Imperial Teen album), 20 ...

(Philosophical Magazine, S. 6., Vol. 7, No. 40., April 1904, pp. 317–329) *

The Ether and moving Matter ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

(Congress of arts and science, universal exposition, St. Louis 1904, (1906), vol. 4, pp. 105–117) * The Negative Results of Second and Third Order Tests of the "Aether Drift," and Possible First Order Methods (Philosophical Magazine (1905), vol. 10, pp. 71–80) * The Aether "Drift" and Rotary Polarization. (Phil. Mag., London, (Ser. 6), 10, 1905, pp. 383–396) * A Repetition of Fizeau's Experiment on the Change produced by the Earth's Motion on the Rotation of a Refracted Ray (Phil. Mag., London, (Ser. 6), 10, 1905, pp. 591–599)

References

External links

Brace at the University of Nebraska
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brace, Dewitt Bristol 1859 births 1905 deaths American physicists University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science University of Michigan faculty

Life and work

See also

Publications

References

External links