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1746 – Leonhard Euler develops the wave theory of light refraction and dispersion; 1747 – William Watson, while experimenting with a Leyden jar, observes that a discharge of static electricity causes electric current to flow and develops the concept of an electrical potential .
In part correct, [2] being able to successfully explain refraction, reflection, rectilinear propagation and to a lesser extent diffraction, the theory would fall out of favor in the early nineteenth century, as the wave theory of light amassed new experimental evidence. [3] The modern understanding of light is the concept of wave-particle duality.
In the late 1660s and early 1670s, Isaac Newton expanded Descartes's ideas into a corpuscle theory of light, famously determining that white light was a mix of colours that can be separated into its component parts with a prism. In 1690, Christiaan Huygens proposed a wave theory for light based on suggestions that had been made by Robert Hooke ...
Optics began with the development of lenses by the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians, followed by theories on light and vision developed by ancient Greek philosophers, and the development of geometrical optics in the Greco-Roman world. The word optics is derived from the Greek term τα ὀπτικά meaning 'appearance, look'. [1]
It forms the foundation of light transport theory, which models how light interacts with surfaces, volumes, and media. Energy Transfer Models: Light interacts with media through absorption, reflection, and transmission. These processes are governed by the rendering equation, which models the distribution of light in a scene. [1]
The theory of special relativity plays an important role in the modern theory of classical electromagnetism. It gives formulas for how electromagnetic objects, in particular the electric and magnetic fields, are altered under a Lorentz transformation from one inertial frame of reference to another. It sheds light on the relationship between ...
In modern physics, the double-slit experiment demonstrates that light and matter can exhibit behavior of both classical particles and classical waves.This type of experiment was first performed by Thomas Young in 1801, as a demonstration of the wave behavior of visible light. [1]
Finite light speed and other constant motion lines were described with analytic geometry. Orthogonality of electric and magnetic vector fields in space was extended by hyperbolic orthogonality for the temporal factor. When Ludwik Silberstein published his textbook The Theory of Relativity (1914) [14] he related the new geometry to electromagnetism.