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Optics was significantly reformed by the developments in the medieval Islamic world, such as the beginnings of physical and physiological optics, and then significantly advanced in early modern Europe, where diffractive optics began. These earlier studies on optics are now known as "classical optics".
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. [1] Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light.
1st century AD – Pliny in his Natural History records the story of a shepherd Magnes who discovered the magnetic properties of some iron stones, "it is said, made this discovery, when, upon taking his herds to pasture, he found that the nails of his shoes and the iron ferrel of his staff adhered to the ground".
Because Optics contributed a new dimension to the study of vision, it influenced later scientists. In particular, Ptolemy used Euclid's mathematical treatment of vision and his idea of a visual cone in combination with physical theories in Ptolemy's Optics, which has been called "one of the most important works on optics written before Newton". [3]
Pages in category "History of optics" The following 12 pages are in this category, out of 12 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. ...
Objects resembling lenses date back 4000 years although it is unknown if they were used for their optical properties or just as decoration. [6] Greek accounts of the optical properties of water-filled spheres (5th century BC) were followed by many centuries of writings on optics, including Ptolemy (2nd century) in his Optics, who wrote about the properties of light including reflection ...
2nd century AD — Ptolemy (in his work Optics) wrote about the properties of light including: reflection, refraction, and colour. 984 — Ibn Sahl completes a treatise On Burning Mirrors and Lenses, describing plano-convex and biconvex lenses, and parabolic and ellipsoidal mirrors.
Reversed achromatic lens. Charles Chevalier's Paris optical firm produced lenses for both Niépce and Daguerre for their experiments in photography.In 1829 [3] [citation needed], Chevalier created an achromatic lens (a two-element lens made from crown glass and flint glass) to cut down on chromatic aberration for Daguerre's experiments.