Abstract

This paper identifies at least three simple but critical flaws in assumptions that prevented meaningful results in the famous Michelson-Morley experiments.  Their inevitable results were followed by erroneous rejection of an optical aether.  In the absence of adequate control of such assumptions by the world of physics, those conclusions de-railed much of 'modern' physics progress for 120 years and fostered equally flawed programs, such as the Lorentz Length Contraction, to needlessly justify aether, of Einstein's Special Relativity Theory to replace it.  If this paper is coorect, the conditions within the physics community that permitted the 'lost century' should be considered and remedied where possible.