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Newton's corpuscular theory was an elaboration of his view of reality as interactions of material points through forces. Note Albert Einstein's description of Newton's conception of physical reality: [Newton's] physical reality is characterised by concepts of space, time, the material point and force (interaction between material points).
Corpuscularianism remained a dominant theory for centuries and was blended with alchemy by early scientists such as Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton in the 17th century. In his work The Sceptical Chymist (1661), Boyle abandoned the Aristotelian ideas of the classical elements —earth, water, air, and fire—in favor of corpuscularianism.
The corpuscular theory of light went into abeyance, completely overshadowed by the wave theory. [Note 3] This state of affairs lasted until 1905, when Einstein presented heuristic arguments that under various circumstances, such as when considering the photoelectric effect, light exhibits behaviors indicative of a particle nature. [12]
The last query (number 31) wonders if a corpuscular theory could explain how different substances react more to certain substances than to others, in particular how aqua fortis (nitric acid) reacts more with calamine that with iron. This 31st query has been often been linked to the origin of the concept of affinity in chemical reactions.
Newton's corpuscular theory implied that light would travel faster in a denser medium, while the wave theory of Huygens and others implied the opposite. At that time, the speed of light could not be measured accurately enough to decide which theory was correct. The first to make a sufficiently accurate measurement was Léon Foucault, in 1850. [38]
The corpuscular theory of light, developed by Isaac Newton in his Opticks, which proposed the existence of light particles which are now known as photons; A term used by J. J. Thomson to describe particles now known to be electrons, in his plum pudding model; A small free-floating biological cell, especially a blood cell
Newton's corpuscular theory of light was gradually succeeded by the wave theory. It was not until the 19th century that the quantitative measurement of dispersed light was recognized and standardized. As with many subsequent spectroscopy experiments, Newton's sources of white light included flames and stars, including the Sun.
Maupertuis was the first to publish a principle of least action, as a way of adapting Fermat's principle for waves to a corpuscular (particle) theory of light. [3]: 96 Pierre de Fermat had explained Snell's law for the refraction of light by assuming light follows the path of shortest time, not distance. This troubled Maupertuis, since he felt ...