Dispersion in the Ether: Light over the Water

Abstract.

This is an account of measurements of the velocity of light by James Young (1811–1883) and George Forbes (1849–1936) around 1880 based upon an improved version of Fizeau's toothed-wheel method. They presented evidence for a dispersive effect resulting in a difference in the velocity of 1.8% across the visible spectrum. This conflicted with Albert A. Michelson's measurements and prompted discussions by Lord Rayleigh, Arthur Schuster, Léon Gouy, J. Willard Gibbs, and Paul Ehrenfest that led to the conclusion that not the phase velocity but the group velocity was being measured, and that there was no theoretical foundation for Young and Forbes's result.