The collection documents Michelson's long career, but also includes materials relevant to Michelson that were created before and after his lifetime. Subjects covered include the Michelson family; his career at the Naval Academy and subsequent relations with the Navy; his relationship with other institutions such as Clark University, University of Chicago, the Bureau of Standards, and the Case Institute. Subject files include: ether experiments, gravity meter experiments, the history of light and the interferometer, the Michelson-Morley experiment, spectroscopy, star diameter measurements, vacuum tube experiment, velocity of light measurements, the Mount Wilson experiment, the Nobel Prize, Lick Observatory, and the Bureau of Ordinance range finder. Correspondence concerning Michelson's experiments, awards, and society memberships, notebooks, data sheets, etc. and on such topics as the velocity of light, relative motion of earth and ether, determination of the standard meter in wavelengths of light, and other applications of interference methods of metrology, metallic colors in birds and insects, measurement of stellar diameters, elasticoviscous phenomena, and earth tides; scientific manuscripts and reprints by Michelson and other scientists whose work related to Michelson's; critiques and biographical material about Michelson; apparatus (some models), such as the interferometer, gravity meter, ruling engine, and ether drift equipment; photos; and medals. The Publications Series includes all of Michelson's published works, as well as most of the materials published about him. Among the many associates of Michelson's represented in the collection are: W. S. Adams, Niels Bohr, H. Crew, Albert Einstein, Henry Gordon Gale, George Ellery Hale, R. A. Millikan, E. M. Morley, Simon Newcomb, Thomas J. O'Donnell, Francis G. Pease, and Lord Rayleigh.