"Annenberg Media" "¶" "THE CATHODE-RAY TUBE" "WAS INVENTED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 19th CENTURY." "OF COURSE, IT EVENTUALLY BECAME THE MODERN TELEVISION TUBE." "BUT BEFORE THAT MISFORTUNE," "IT ACTUALLY SERVED A USEFUL PURPOSE." "HERE IS A PARTICULARLY SIMPLE CATHODE-RAY TUBE." "IT CONSISTS OF AN EVACUATED GLASS TUBE" "WITH TWO ELECTRODES INSIDE." "I'M GOING TO APPLY 20,000 VOLTS ACROSS THOSE TWO ELECTRODES." "FIRST, I'LL TURN OUT THE LIGHTS SO YOU CAN SEE WHAT HAPPENS." "YOU SEE THAT IT GLOWS INSIDE." "ALSO, THIS MALTESE CROSS CASTS A SHADOW ON THE END." "THE MALTESE CROSS IS THE POSITIVE ELECTRODE." "NOTICE THAT I CAN EASILY MOVE AROUND THE SHADOW" "JUST BY BRINGING UP A SIMPLE BAR MAGNET LIKE THAT." "OK?" "RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING," "PEOPLE SUSPECTED THAT THAT GLOW" "WAS A BEAM OF CHARGED PARTICLES" "BECAUSE IT WAS SO EASILY DEFLECTED" "WITH AN ORDINARY MAGNET." "BUT TO PROVE THAT," "YOU'D HAVE TO DEFLECT IT WITH AN ELECTRIC FIELD." "FOR SOME STRANGE REASON, THAT DIDN'T WORK." "THEN ALONG CAME A BRITISH PHYSICIST" "NAMED J.J. THOMSON." "THOMSON WAS A BRILLIANT EXPERIMENTAL PHYSICIST," "BUT STRANGELY ENOUGH, HE WAS VERY CLUMSY." "IN FACT, THE LEGEND IS" "HE BROKE EVERY CATHODE RAY TUBE HE EVER TOUCHED." "HERE'S A REPLICA OF ONE OF THOMSON'S TUBES." "LIKE ONE OF HIS, IT'S ALSO BROKEN." "THOMSON REALIZED WHY THE ELECTRIC FIELD DIDN'T WORK" "THE VACUUM IN THE TUBE WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH." "GAS STUCK ON THE TUBE WALLS" "WHEN THE GLASS BLOWER SEALED IT OFF." "HE FIGURED HE COULD SOLVE THAT PROBLEM" "BY HEATING THE TUBE AS IT WAS BEING SEALED." "HE HAD THE TUBES HEATED WHILE THE GLASS BLOWER SEALED IT." "AFTER HE DID THAT," "THE ELECTRIC FIELD DEFLECTED THE BEAM." "THOMSON SHOWED" "THAT THE BEAM WAS MADE OF ELECTRICALLY CHARGED PARTICLES" "AND THAT THE SAME CHARGED PARTICLES" "CAME FROM EVERY KIND OF MATTER." "WHAT THOMSON HAD DONE WAS THE FIRST SPLITTING OF THE ATOM." "HE'D SHOWN THAT THE ULTIMATE INDIVISIBLE PARTICLE OF MATTER" "REALLY HAD INTERNAL PARTS." "THE HONOR OF NAMING THE NEW PARTICLE" "SHOULD HAVE GONE TO ITS DISCOVERER, J.J. THOMSON." "HE WANTED TO CALL IT THE CORPUSCLE." "THAT NAME DIDN'T STICK BECAUSE IT HAD ALREADY BEEN NAMED." "IT WAS CALLED THE ELECTRON." "AND SO J.J. THOMSON SPLIT THE ATOM" "AND DISCOVERED THE ELECTRON" "BY BAKING HIS TUBES." "THIS NAME, THE ELECTRON, STARTED A TRADITION IN PHYSICS" "OF NAMING THINGS WITH INDIVIDUAL UNITS" "WITH NAMES THAT END IN O-N-S." "SO THAT, FOR EXAMPLE," "THE INDIVIDUAL UNIT OF LIGHT IS CALLED A PHOTON." "THE UNIT OF SOUND IS CALLED A PHONON." "THE UNIT OF MATTER IS A PROTON." "WE HAVE NEUTRONS, AND SO ON." "IN FACT, RECENTLY SOCIOLOGISTS HAVE DISCOVERED" "THAT EVEN HUMAN POPULATIONS HAVE INDIVIDUAL UNITS" "CALLED PERSONS." "BOO!" "BOO!" "ONCE THE ATOM WAS SPLIT AND THE ELECTRON WAS DISCOVERED," "THE CRUCIAL JOB THAT REMAINED WAS TO MEASURE" "THE ELECTRIC CHARGE OF THE ELECTRON." "THAT JOB WAS DONE" "IN ONE OF THE CLASSIC EXPERIMENTS OF PHYSICS" "BY THE GREAT AMERICAN EXPERIMENTALIST," "ROBERT ANDREWS MILLIKAN." "A SMALL BEAKER OF OIL," "A STURDY IRON POT," "JUST ENOUGH POWER..." "A DASH OF DISCIPLINE," "A MEASURE OF CREATIVITY," "AND PERHAPS A TOUCH OF GENIUS." "THESE WERE THE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS" "IN THE PHYSICIST'S VERY EXPERIMENTAL RECIPE." "THE SCIENTIST-- ROBERT A. MILLIKAN." "THE ACHIEVEMENT" "MEASURING THE VALUE OF THE CHARGE OF THE ELECTRON." "THE PREPARATION TIME-- ALMOST HALF A CENTURY." "1868," "THE YEAR A YOUNG NATION STILL SHAKY FROM THE CIVIL WAR" "WAS LINKED TOGETHER BY THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD." "THAT SAME YEAR, ROBERT A. MILLIKAN WAS BORN," "THE SON OF AN IOWA PREACHER." "HE STUDIED THE CLASSICS AT OHIO'S OBERLIN COLLEGE." "LATER, BECAUSE THERE WASN'T AN OPENING TO TEACH LATIN" "OR THE HISTORY OF ANCIENT GREECE," "HE BECAME AN INSTRUCTOR OF ELEMENTARY PHYSICS THERE." "HE SHOWED PROMISE." "COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AWARDED HIM A FELLOWSHIP IN PHYSICS," "WHICH HE LOST AFTER THE FIRST YEAR." "THE LOSS OF SUPPORT MADE HIM DOUBT," "BUT NOT GIVE UP ON," "HIS ABILITY AS A SCIENTIST." "HE WENT BACK TO THE MIDWEST," "WHERE HE STUDIED UNDER ALBERT A. MICHELSON" "AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO." "MICHELSON HAD BEEN AWARDED THE NOBEL PRIZE" "FOR DEVELOPING AN EXTRAORDINARY INSTRUMENT" "TO MEASURE DISTANCES BY THE INTERFERENCE OF LIGHT WAVES." "MILLIKAN WANTED MORE THAN A SUMMER SESSION AT CHICAGO." "HE WANTED TO LAUNCH HIS CAREER IN PHYSICS THERE." "TO PREPARE HIMSELF FURTHER," "HE VISITED LEGENDARY UNIVERSITIES AND LABORATORIES" "OF THE OLD WORLD." "BEFORE NORTH AMERICA ACHIEVED PROMINENCE," "EUROPE WAS THE CONTINENT" "THAT MOST INSPIRED SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES." "BEFORE THE FIRST WORLD WAR," "MILLIKAN'S INSPIRATION WAS MOLDED" "NOT ONLY BY THE LONG SHADOWS OF NEWTON AND GALILEO," "BUT BY THE FACT" "THAT HE COULD WALK AMONG THE LIVING GIANTS" "OF HIS OWN DAY." "THE ENGLISHMAN WILLIAM RAMSAY," "WHO'D DISCOVERED HELIUM, NEON, XENON, AND KRYPTON." "WILHELM ROENTGEN, GERMAN DISCOVERER OF THE X-RAY." "GUGLIELMO MARCONI AND KARL BRAUN," "WHO DEVELOPED THE WIRELESS TELEGRAPH." "LIKE LEIBNITZ AND NEWTON IN CALCULUS," "THEY MADE THEIR DISCOVERY SIMULTANEOUSLY," "BUT NOT TOGETHER." "ALBERT EINSTEIN." "MAX PLANCK AND JOHANNES STARK" "WERE HARD AT WORK IN GERMANY." "BUT THE GREATEST DIRECT INFLUENCES ON MILLIKAN" "SEEMED TO HAVE BEEN BRITISH" "J.J. THOMSON AND HIS STUDENT H.A. WILSON" "AT THE CAVENDISH LABORATORIES." "THE ELECTRON, X-RAYS, AND RADIATION" "SUCH DISCOVERIES MADE PHYSICS AN EXCITING FRONTIER," "AND HE WAS EAGER TO CROSS ITS THRESHOLD." "YET MILLIKAN WAS CAREFUL IN HIS WORK." "IT WOULD TAKE A DECADE BEFORE HE BEGAN MAKING HIS MARK." "HE WAS IN HIS 40s" "AND HAD ONLY JUST BECOME AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR" "AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO." "ABOUT THE SAME TIME" "MARIE CURIE WAS AWARDED A NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY," "HE BEGAN TO MEASURE AN ELECTRON'S CHARGE." "HIS GROUNDWORK HAD BEEN LAID BY THOMSON," "A NOBEL LAUREATE IN 1906" "FOR HIS INVESTIGATIONS ON HOW GASES CONDUCT ELECTRICITY." "THIS BRILLIANT ENGLISHMAN HAD DISCOVERED THE ELECTRON" "AND DEVELOPED THE CLOUD METHOD TO MEASURE ITS CHARGE." "THIS CHAMBER WAS INVENTED" "TO STUDY ATMOSPHERIC CLOUDS," "BUT IN THE HANDS OF THOMSON" "AND HIS COLLEAGUE, H.A. WILSON," "IT HAD GONE BEYOND ITS ORIGINAL PURPOSE." "A SUDDEN EXPANSION OF AIR" "SATURATED WITH WATER VAPOR" "FORMS CLOUDS." "IF THERE ARE DUST PARTICLES" "ON WHICH TO CONDENSE," "THAT SUPERSATURATED VAPOR" "WOULD ALSO CONDENSE ON IONS" "ELECTRICALLY CHARGED PARTICLES" "CREATED BY AN X-RAY TUBE." "EACH DROP OF WATER" "WOULD HAVE THE ELECTRIC CHARGE" "OF A SINGLE ELECTRON." "THOMSON AND WILSON SET OUT TO DETERMINE" "THE AVERAGE CHARGE" "ON AN AVERAGE DROPLET." "THE CLOUD-CHAMBER METHOD" "WAS DIFFICULT." "THE EXPERIMENTS," "WHICH INVOLVED MEASURING" "THE RATE OF FALL OF THE CLOUD" "IN AN ELECTRIC FIELD," "WERE SUBJECT TO" "COUNTLESS UNCERTAINTIES." "NONETHELESS," "THEY FINALLY OBTAINED AN ESTIMATE" "OF THE ELECTRON CHARGE." "BUT IT WAS CORRECT" "IN ITS ORDER OF MAGNITUDE." "TO A MAN LIKE ROBERT A. MILLIKAN," "IT WAS AN OPEN DOOR TO HIS PARTICULAR TALENT" "PRECISE MEASUREMENTS OF FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICAL QUANTITIES." "MILLIKAN REPEATED WILSON'S EXPERIMENTS" "AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO." "TO IONIZE THE GASEOUS CLOUD IN THE CHAMBER," "HE USED X-RAYS FIRST, THEN SMALL AMOUNTS OF RADIUM." "HE TRIED A MORE POWERFUL ELECTRIC FIELD IN THE CHAMBER." "IF THIS WORKED, IT WOULD BE POWERFUL ENOUGH" "TO BALANCE THE FORCE OF GRAVITY" "AND TO KEEP THE CLOUD SUSPENDED WITHOUT MOTION." "BUT THERE WAS A LITTLE PROBLEM." "WITH SUCH POWERFUL ELECTRIC FORCES IN THE CHAMBER," "THE WATER-VAPOR CLOUD QUICKLY DISAPPEARED." "BUT MILLIKAN TURNED THIS PROBLEM INTO AN ADVANTAGE." "WHEN THE ELECTRICAL FIELD WAS TURNED ON," "INDIVIDUAL DROPLETS STAYED IN VIEW." "MILLIKAN IMAGINED MEASURING SINGLE DROPLETS" "RATHER THAN AN ENTIRE CLOUD." "IF IT WERE POSSIBLE TO MAKE MEASUREMENTS ON THE DROPLETS," "THE EFFECTS OF INDIVIDUAL ELECTRONS COULD BE DETECTED" "A BRILLIANT INSIGHT, BUT NOT WITHOUT A PROBLEM" "WATER EVAPORATES." "INSTEAD OF WATER, MILLIKAN WONDERED," "WHY NOT USE DROPLETS OF OIL?" "OIL, UNLIKE WATER, DOESN'T EVAPORATE." "IN 1907, AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO," "IT BEGAN TO FALL INTO PLACE." "GIVEN THE APPARATUS TO PRODUCE A MIST OF OIL," "MILLIKAN WAS INCREASINGLY CONFIDENT" "THAT THE ELECTRICAL CHARGE OF AN ELECTRON" "COULD BE ACCURATELY MEASURED." "UNDER HIS GUIDANCE, HARVEY FLETCHER," "A GRADUATE STUDENT FROM BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY," "SUGGESTED AN ATOMIZER." "FLETCHER'S FIRST APPARATUS FOR THE OIL-DROP EXPERIMENT," "LIKE MILLIKAN'S ORIGINAL IDEA," "WAS SIMPLE, POWERFUL, AND ALTOGETHER BRILLIANT." "IT WAS A COMBINATION THAT BEGAN TO WORK." "THE ESSENCE OF THE EXPERIMENT" "IS TO APPLY AN ELECTRIC FIELD" "TO AN ELECTRICALLY CHARGED OIL DROP" "FALLING THROUGH THE AIR" "AND THEN TO ANALYZE THE RESULT" "USING NEWTON'S POWERFUL EQUATION, F = ma." "THE MASS OF THE DROP TIMES THE ACCELERATION" "EQUALS THE SUM OF ALL THE FORCES ACTING ON IT." "WHAT FORCES ACT ON A FALLING OIL DROP?" "THERE'S THE FORCE OF GRAVITY" "AND THE EFFECT OF VISCOSITY." "AN OIL DROP, IF ONLY FOR A MILLIONTH OF A SECOND," "HAS THE ACCELERATION OF A FREE-FALLING BODY." "AFTER THAT FIRST MILLIONTH OF A SECOND," "THE DROP REACHES TERMINAL VELOCITY." "LIKE ANY SPHERE FALLING THROUGH A VISCOUS FLUID," "IT FALLS AT CONSTANT SPEED." "THE VISCOUS FORCE ON A MOVING SPHERE," "WORKED OUT BY THE ENGLISH PHYSICIST GEORGE STOKES" "EQUALS 6 PI TIMES THE RADIUS OF THE SPHERE" "TIMES THE AIR VISCOSITY TIMES THE SPEED OF THE SPHERE." "VERY QUICKLY, THE SPEED GROWS" "UNTIL THE VISCOUS FORCE" "IS BIG ENOUGH TO BALANCE GRAVITY." "THE SPHERE FALLS AT CONSTANT SPEED." "MILLIKAN HAD TO MEASURE THIS SPEED" "TO LEARN HOW BIG EACH DROP WAS." "EVEN WITH A POWERFUL TELESCOPE," "AN INDIVIDUAL DROP WAS TOO SMALL TO SEE." "WHAT MILLIKAN SAW RESEMBLED A STAR IN THE NIGHT," "A PINPOINT OF LIGHT" "THAT COULDN'T BE RESOLVED INTO ITS SPHERICAL SHAPE." "BUT BY WATCHING HIS STAR DRIFT SLOWLY" "FROM ONE SCRATCH MARK TO ANOTHER ON HIS TELESCOPE" "AND USING THE KNOWN DENSITY OF THE OIL," "HE COULD MEASURE ITS SIZE." "NOW HE WOULD TURN ON" "THE ELECTRIC FIELD" "AND CREATE AN ELECTRIC FORCE" "EQUAL TO THE ELECTRIC FIELD'S STRENGTH" "TIMES THE CHARGE ON THE DROP." "THAT'S THE CHARGE MILLIKAN WAS AFTER." "DUE TO ONE ELECTRON," "IT WOULD BE AN INTEGER MULTIPLE" "OF THE FUNDAMENTAL UNIT OF ELECTRIC CHARGE." "WITH THE ELECTRIC FORCE, HE COULD DRIVE THE DROP UPWARD" "UNTIL AGAIN IT REACHED A CONSTANT SPEED." "TOGETHER WITH THE SPEED HE'D MEASURED" "WITH THE FIELD OFF," "THE NEW SPEED GAVE HIM EVERYTHING HE NEEDED" "TO FIND THE CHARGE." "THE EXPERIMENT WAS DESIGNED WITH EXQUISITE CARE" "A HALLMARK OF MILLIKAN'S WORK." "TO MINIMIZE TURBULENCE ON THE OIL DROPS" "AS THEY DRIFTED BETWEEN PARALLEL PLATES," "A HEAVY IRON POT WAS DESIGNED TO HOUSE THE PLATES." "AIR WOULD BE FILTERED THROUGH GLASS WOOL" "BEFORE ENTERING AN ATOMIZER" "DESIGNED TO SPRAY THE FINEST MIST OF OIL DROPLETS" "INTO THE CHAMBER." "EVEN THE LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE THE DROPLETS WAS FILTERED." "A SOLUTION OF COPPER SULFATE AND A METER-LONG TUBE OF WATER" "WOULD REMOVE THE LIGHT'S EXCESS HEAT." "WHEN THE TIME CAME, MILLIKAN SAW TO IT" "THAT NOTHING WOULD DISTURB HIS EXPERIMENT." "STOPWATCH IN HAND," "HOUR AFTER HOUR HE WOULD PEER THROUGH HIS TELESCOPE," "THROUGH THE PORTHOLE AND INTO THE CHAMBER." "DEEP WITHIN THE HEART OF THE CHAMBER," "HE WOULDEE A SINGLE CHARGED DROPLET OF OIL" "GLOWING LIKE A STAR." "UNDER THE INFLUENCES OF GRAVITY AND VISCOSITY," "THE DROPLET WOULD FALL." "DOWN THROUGH INNER SPACE THE STAR WOULD FALL" "UNTIL IT REACHED THE TOP SCRATCH MARK." "MILLIKAN WOULD START HIS STOPWATCH." "IT WOULD KEEP FALLING UNTIL IT REACHED THE BOTTOM MARK." "MILLIKAN WOULD ENTER THE TIME IT TOOK EACH DROP TO FALL." "THEN HE'D TURN ON THE ELECTRIC FIELD," "TURNING THE OIL DROPLET INTO A RISING STAR." "AT THE BOTTOM MARK, HE'D START THE WATCH," "LETTING IT RUN UNTIL THE RISING DROP" "CROSSED THE LINE ON TOP." "AGAIN AND AGAIN, HE'D RECORD HOW LONG IT TOOK" "TO RISE AND FALL," "OFTEN OBSERVING A SINGLE DROPLET HOURS ON END." "HUNDREDS OF MEASUREMENTS WERE TAKEN AND ANALYZED" "TO GIVE THE MOST ACCURATE MEASUREMENT EVER MADE" "OF THE FUNDAMENTAL UNIT OF ELECTRIC CHARGE." "MILLIKAN'S FINAL PUBLISHED MEASUREMENT-- 4.77 TIMES 10 TO THE MINUS 10 ELECTROSTATIC UNITS" "WAS ONLY 2% DIFFERENT FROM HIS RESULT" "PRIOR TO USING OIL IN THE EXPERIMENT." "ROBERT A. MILLIKAN'S FORTE WAS PRECISION," "AN ABILITY TO DETECT AND ELIMINATE ERROR," "AND, WITH EXTRAORDINARY DILIGENCE AND CREATIVITY," "TO IMPROVE ON EXISTING TOOLS." "IN PUBLIC STATEMENTS" "AND THERE WERE MANY AS HE BECAME AN ELDER STATESMAN" "OF THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY" "HE EXTOLLED THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD." "THE SCIENTIST'S RESPONSIBILITY" "WAS TO MAKE MEASUREMENTS WITHOUT BIAS" "AND TO LET NATURE DICTATE THE ANSWERS." "THE SCIENTIST'S JOB WAS TO MAKE EACH MEASUREMENT," "NO MATTER HOW PAINSTAKINGLY," "AND TO PUBLISH EVERYTHING." "DETERMINING THE DATA'S SIGNIFICANCE" "THAT WAS THE JOB OF THE SCIENTIST'S PEERS." "MILLIKAN'S PEERS UNDERSTOOD THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS WORK." "IN 1923, HE BECAME THE FIRST NATIVE-BORN AMERICAN" "TO BE AWARDED THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS." "MILLIKAN WENT ON TO HEAD THE CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY," "AN AMERICAN INSTITUTION," "AND TO BECOME ONE HIMSELF." "HIS NAME BECAME AND REMAINS" "SYNONOMOUS WITH SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS." "IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20th CENTURY," "HIS IMAGE, NEXT TO ALBERT EINSTEIN'S," "WAS THAT OF THE MOST FAMOUS PHYSICIST IN NORTH AMERICA." "I'D LIKE TO SHOW YOU" "WHAT THE EXPERIMENT LOOKED LIKE." "THERE'S ONE THING I WANT YOU TO NOTICE." "IT'S THIS CANISTER." "THE SAME ONE IS RIGHT THERE AT THE END OF THE BENCH." "THAT'S MILLIKAN'S OWN OIL-DROP EXPERIMENT," "STILL FUNCTIONING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS." "NOW I HAVE SOMETHING TRULY EXTRAORDINARY" "I WOULD LIKE TO SHOW YOU." "MILLIKAN GATHERED TOGETHER HIS RESULTS" "TO BE PUBLISHED IN A SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL." "BUT BEFORE THAT, HE HAD TO HAVE A PLACE" "TO WRITE DOWN THE RESULTS OF HIS EXPERIMENT" "AS HE WAS DOING IT." "THAT PLACE WAS HIS LABORATORY NOTEBOOK." "IT WAS NEVER INTENDED FOR ANYONE ELSE TO SEE." "IT WAS FOR MILLIKAN'S EYES ONLY." "THIS PAGE IS DATED WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1911." "HERE, MILLIKAN WRITES DOWN" "THE TEMPERATURE AND THE PRESSURE IN THE ROOM." "AND HERE, UNDER THE LETTER G FOR GRAVITY," "A SERIES OF FIGURES," "EACH ONE OF WHICH IS THE TIME IT TOOK HIS OIL DROP TO FALL" "BETWEEN THE TWO SCRATCH MARKS ON HIS TELESCOPES." "THEN A SIMILAR COLUMN UNDER F FOR FIELD," "THE ELECTRIC FIELD," "AND AGAIN THE TIMES IT TAKES HIS OIL DROP TO FALL." "FROM THOSE TIMES, HE CALCULATES VELOCITIES" "V1, V2, AND SO ON." "USING THOSE VELOCITIES," "HE FINDS THE LOGARITHM OF V1 + V2" "SO HE CAN ADD IT TO 1/2 THE LOGARITHM OF V1." "AND FINALLY, HERE, MILLIKAN REACHES HIS RESULT." "AND THEN HE WRITES, "THIS IS ALMOST EXACTLY RIGHT."" "BUT HOW CAN HE SAY THAT?" "HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE MEASURING" "A FUNDAMENTAL CONSTANT OF NATURE" "WHOSE VALUE HE DOESN'T KNOW IN ADVANCE." "WHY DOES HE SAY "THIS IS RIGHT"?" "ON ANOTHER PAGE HE WRITES, "BEAUTY."" "ON THIS PAGE, "BEAUTY." "PUBLISH."" "AND ANOTHER, "VERY LOW." "SOMETHING WRONG."" "AND THEN HE MAKES A VERY REVEALING NOTE" ""NOT SURE OF DISTANCE. 1.273."" "THERE IT IS." "WHEN HE GETS A RESULT HE DOESN'T LIKE," "HE DOESN'T THROW IT AWAY BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE CHEATING." "WHAT HE DOES INSTEAD IS TO EXAMINE THE APPARATUS" "TO FIND SOMETHING WRONG" "SO HE HAS A REASON FOR THROWING IT AWAY." "OF COURSE, WHEN HE GETS A RESULT HE DOES LIKE," "HE DOESN'T EXAMINE THE APPARATUS NEARLY AS CAREFULLY" "TO FIND OUT WHAT WENT RIGHT." "OBVIOUSLY, THAT CREATES A POWERFUL BIAS IN HIS METHOD" "TO GET THE RESULT HE WANTS." "ANOTHER PAGE, HERE." ""BEST YET." "BEAUTY." "PUBLISH."" "AND SO ON, FOR PAGES AND PAGES AND PAGES." "THE POINT IS NOT AT ALL" "THAT ROBERT MILLIKAN WAS A BAD SCIENTIST." "HE WAS A GREAT SCIENTIST." "BUT BY EXAMINING THESE NOTES," "WE CAN GET A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO HOW SCIENCE IS REALLY DONE." "WHAT MILLIKAN WAS DOING WASN'T CHEATING." "HE WAS USING HIS SCIENTIFIC JUDGMENT." "IN FACT, IT MUST BE THAT WAY" "BECAUSE NO ONE EVER STUMBLES ONTO A SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY." "EVERY DISCOVERY IS MADE IN THE COURSE OF AN EXPERIMENT" "THAT WAS EXQUISITELY DESIGNED TO GIVE THE RESULTS" "THAT THE SCIENTIST EXPECTS TO FIND." "AND THE SCIENTIST KNOWS THAT QUITE POSSIBLY," "FAME WILL BE WAITING IF A GREAT DISCOVERY IS MADE." "THEN WHAT PREVENTS SOMEONE" "FROM MAKING A DISCOVERY THAT ISN'T REAL?" "THE ANSWER IS, THE EXPERIMENT CAN BE REPEATED" "SOMEWHERE ELSE BY SOMEONE ELSE" "TO SEE IF IT'S RIGHT." "IT'S OFTEN SAID THAT THE IMMENSE SUCCESS" "OF SOME SCIENTIFIC ENTERPRISE" "WAS DUE TO SOMETHING CALLED THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD" "AND THAT A KEY PART OF THAT METHOD" "IS THE UNPREJUDICED, DISPASSIONATE COLLECTION OF SCIENTIFIC DATA" "AND THAT IF OTHER FIELDS" "WERE ABLE TO IMITATE THAT MAGIC SCIENTIFIC METHOD," "THEY COULD BE JUST AS SUCCESSFUL." "THAT JUST ISN'T THE CASE." "PASSION AND PREJUDICE ARE NEVER VERY FAR" "FROM THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS." "THE SAFEGUARD IS NOT DISINTERESTED SCIENTISTS," "BUT RATHER THE FACT THAT ALL SCIENTISTS BELIEVE" "AT THE VERY CORE OF THEIR BEINGS" "THAT EXPERIMENTS CAN BE REPEATED." "THAT BELIEF IS THE CENTRAL TENET" "IN EVERY SCIENTIST'S FAITH." "AND I HAVE FAITH" "THAT YOU'LL BE BACK HERE NEXT TIME." "TOTHISDAY," "ROBERTA.MILLIKAN'S OIL-DROPEXPERIMENT" "STANDSOUTAS ONE OF THE CLASSIC MEASUREMENTS" "IN THE HISTORY OF PHYSICS." "CAPTIONING PERFORMED BY THE NATIONAL CAPTIONING INSTITUTE, INC." "CAPTIONS COPYRIGHT 1985 CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY" "THE CORPORATION FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGE TELEVISION AND THE ANNENBERG/CPB PROJECT" "PUBLIC PERFORMANCE OF CAPTIONS PROHIBITED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF NATIONAL CAPTIONING INSTITUTE" "Annenberg Media" "¶" "For information about this and other Annenberg Media programs call 1-800-LEARNER and visit us at"