Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use, detect or manipulate it. Its classical form, describing reflection, refraction and the formation of images by lenses and mirrors, was developed by figures including Ibn al-Haytham, Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton, while the nineteenth century recognition of light as an electromagnetic wave and the twentieth century development of quantum optics, describing light's particle-like behavior through photons, extended the field considerably. Optics underlies technologies including the telescope, microscope, camera, laser and fiber-optic communication.
Facts
Founded YearEuclid wrote a treatise entitled Optics (4th-3rd century BC) linking vision to geometry and creating geometrical optics, the same landmark-treatise convention this atlas already uses for mathematics (Euclid Elements, c. 300 BCE). The exact year is not recorded; historians place it in the 4th to 3rd century BCE. Earlier Greek philosophers (Democritus, Plato) theorized about vision with no experimental or geometrical foundation. Central QuestionWhether light is better modeled as rays, waves or particles for a given phenomenon, with each model developed historically in that order. 1 ScopeOptics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour, manipulation and detection of electromagnetic radiation, including its interactions with matter and with the instruments used to detect it. 1 SignificanceOptics underlies technologies from mirrors, lenses, telescopes and microscopes to lasers and fibre optics. 1 Connections
Founded By
Source Ibn al-Haytham (Wikipedia)
Uses
Candela, Units Source International System of Units (Wikipedia)
The Fabry-Perot interferometer uses multiple-beam interference between two reflective surfaces to resolve fine spectral structure, a core optics instrument devised by Charles Fabry and Alfred Perot in 1899.
The refractometer measures a substance's refractive index, an optics-instrument design Ernst Abbe standardized in his 1874 Abbe refractometer.
Sources
1. Optics (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead section, definition sentence
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour, manipulation, and detection of electromagnetic radiation, including its interactions with matter and instruments that use or detect it.
Lead section, scope sentence
Historically, the ray-based model of light was developed first, followed by the wave model of light.
Lead section, closing sentence
Practical applications of optics are found in a variety of technologies and everyday objects, including mirrors, lenses, telescopes, microscopes, lasers, and fibre optics.
History
Some hundred years later, Euclid (4th-3rd century BC) wrote a treatise entitled Optics where he linked vision to geometry, creating geometrical optics.
View the Source Ibn al-Haytham (Wikipedia)
WikipediaFounded By: Ibn al-Haytham, Lead sectionQuote, Founded By: Ibn al-Haytham, Lead section
Referred to as the father of modern optics,
International System of Units (Wikipedia)
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