Optics in the Age of Euler; Conceptions of the Nature of Light, 1700-1795. by HAKFOORT, Casper - 1995

Cambridge:: Cambridge University Press, 1995., 1995. 8vo. vi, 243 pp. Bibliography, index. Bright blue cloth, gilt-stamped spine, dust-jacket. Burndy bookplate. Fine. "According to received historiography, the fundamental issue in eighteenth-century optics was whether light could be understood as the emission of particles, or as the motion of waves in a subtle medium. Moreover, the emission theory of light was supposed to have been dominant in the eighteenth century, backed by Newton's physical arguments. This picture is enriched and qualified by focusing on the origins, contents and reception of the wave theory of light, published by Leonhard Euler in 1746, here studied in depth for the first time. Contrary to what has been assumed, . . . the particle–wave debate only starts with Euler. In addition, Euler's wave theory was the most popular theory in Germany for thirty-five years. Finally, when the emission view of light suddenly became dominant in Germany around 1795, new chemical experiments proved crucial. Reflecting on the mathematical, experimental and metaphysical aspects of physical optics, Casper Hakfoort provides as an epilogue a general picture of early modern science." - [publisher. ISBN: 0521404711