[pure-silver] Re: donut solution; enlarger lens problem
- From: Helge Nareid <h.nareid@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 21:16:00 +0100
Shannon Stoney wrote:
Are Newton rings really named after Isaac Newton? If so, why?
--shannon
Michiel Fokkema wrote:
I'm not sure, but didn't Newton discoverd the breaking of light by means
of a prism?
Cheers,
Michiel Fokkema
The naming of Newton's rings is somewhat ironic.
Newton did indeed offer the first description of the dispersion of light
by a prism, and as such the first known description of how to create a
spectrum from white light.
However, Newton's rings is an interference effect, caused by multiple
reflections between two close (partially) reflective surfaces, which is
best described by a wave theory of light. Newton was, however, a fervent
advocate of a particle theory of light, which does not allow for any
wave phenomena - at least not until the wave/particle duality permitted
by 20th century quantum physics.
So the name "Newton's rings" refers to the spectrum effects found in the
patterns, and not to any contribution of he may have made to explain the
phenomenon.
- Helge Nareid
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