These experiments were known for classical waves since the 17th century around 1800, Young showed they applied to light as well. experiments, where constructive and destructive interference showed themselves dramatically. The wave-like properties of light became even better understood thanks to Thomas Young's two-slit. Newton's Opticks, like his mechanics and gravitation, was a winner. Although there was a wave theory of light that was contemporary with Newton's, put forth by Christiaan Huygens, it couldn't explain the prism experiments.

His 'corpuscular' theory of light was particle-based, and his idea that light was a ray agreed with a wide variety of experiments. Light rays bent when they went from air into water and back again, and at every surface there was a reflective component and a component that was transmitted through. He explained reflection and refraction, absorption and transmission, and even how white light was composed of colors. University of IowaĪlthough it isn't as well-known today as his work on mechanics or gravitation, Newton was also one of the pioneers in explaining how light worked. Newton was the first to explain reflection, refraction, absorption and transmission, as well as the ability of white light to break up into different colors.

energies move at different speeds through a medium, but not through a vacuum. The behavior of white light as it passes through a prism demonstrates how light of different. But if you aren't willing to put your theory or assumption to the test, you might just make the greatest mistake in the history of physics. If you can reproduce that scientific test and show, convincingly, that it is inconsistent with the prevailing theory, you've set the stage for a scientific revolution. All it takes is one observation, measurement, or experiment that conflicts with the predictions of your theory, and you have to consider revising or throwing out your picture of reality. But to be a scientist is to be prepared to doubt all of it each and every time we put it to the test. Our conception of reality is often inextricably intertwined with our ideas of who we are. We all love our most cherished ideas about how the world and the Universe works. NASA/Sonoma State University/Aurore Simonnet But in 1818, waves would make an astounding comeback based on the investigation of the nature of light. Hundreds of years ago, only particles were considered. Today, we conceive of all particles, from the massive quarks to the massless photon, as have a dual.

Newtons opticks