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    Cantor, G. N. 1978. The Historiography of ‘Georgian’ Optics. History of Science, Vol. 16, Issue. 1, p. 1.
    Turner, G. L'E. 1969. The History of Optical Instruments. History of Science, Vol. 8, Issue. 1, p. 53.
    Lovell, D. J. 1965. Optical Peregrinations in Great Britain. Applied Optics, Vol. 4, Issue. 12, p. 1513.
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Physical Optics at the Royal Society 1660–1800*

  • A. W. Badcock
Synopsis

The years between 1660 and 1800 were important ones in the study of light. For most of the period the work, especially in this country, was largely dominated by the theories advanced by Newton; unfortunately the protagonists of these theories were much more rigid in their approach than was Newton himself. There was, in effect, almost a century of ‘rear-guard actions’ to maintain the corpuscular theory at all costs.

Fortunately, the advance of geometrical optics and the design of optical instruments was not retarded to a very great degree by this partisan approach. The workers in these fields were not, as a rule, too involved in speculation, and worked largely empirically.

Some of the modifications to the original corpuscular theory are interesting. Attempts were made to explain, with varying degrees of success, total internal reflection, dispersion, interference effects, diffraction and phosphorescence. Considerable speculation about the velocity of light occurred in connection with these topics. At the same time, wave theories never completely died out and, although they were not developed until the early part of the nineteenth century, their influence was felt even in this country.

Copyright
COPYRIGHT: © British Society for the History of Science 1962
References
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1 , J.B., x, 167–8.

2 Birch, T., History of the Royal Society of London, 4 vols., London, 1756–1757, vol. iii, p. 12.

3 Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1672, vii, 5084.

4 Birch, , op. cit., vol. ii, p. 448.

5 Birch, , op. cit., vol. iii, pp. 247–30.

6 , J.B., xxxv, 485; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1796, lxxxvi, 250, 273.

7 Birch, , op. cit., vol. iii, p. 257.

8 , J.B., xxvi, 847–50; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1770, lx, 417–40.

9 Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1768, lviii, 344.

10 , J.B., iv, 145; Waller, , The Posthumous Works of Robert Hooke, London, 1705, p. 133.

11 Hooke, , Micrographia, London, 1665, p. 56.

12 Birch, , op. cit., vol. iii, p. 11.

13 Birch, , op. cit., vol. iii, p. 194.

14 Huygens, , Traité de la Lumière, Leyden, 1690.

15 Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1727–1728, xxxv, 599.

16 Recueil des pièces que ont remportés les prix de l'Academie Française, tome iii, 1752.

17 , J.B., xxi, 374–5; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1753, xlviii, 269–70.

18 Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1792, lxxxii, 87–8.

19 Birch, , op. cit., vol. iii, p. 255; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1672, vii, 5084.

20 Birch, , op. cit., vol. iii, p. 260, pp. 297–301, p. 304; , J.B., vii, 274; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1693, xvii, 998–9; 1767, lvii, 60.

21 Hooke, , op. cit., pp. 57–60; Birch, , op. cit., vol. iii, pp. 10–13, P. 195.

22 Birch, , op. cit., vol. iii, p. 248.

23 Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1727–1728, xxxv, 601–2, 605–6.

24 Birch, , op. cit., vol. iii, p. 9.

25 Ibid., vol. iii, pp. 47, 50, 53.

26 Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1672, vii, 4087.

27 Birch, , op. cit., vol. iii, pp. 255, 262.

28 , J.B., xxx, 615–18.

29 Hooke, , op. cit., p. 68.

30 Birch, , op. cit., vol. iii, p. 268.

31 Ibid., vol. iii, pp. 298–301.

32 , J.B., xxix, 454.

33 , J.B., xxxv, 484–5; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1796, lxxxvi, 273.

34 , J.B., xxxvi, 168–71; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1797, lxxxvii, 418–21.

35 Birch, , op. cit., vol. ii, p. 322; Essays of Natural Experiments, Trans., Waller, London, 1684, p. 157.

36 Birch, , op. cit., vol. iii, pp. 9, 14.

37 Hooke, , op. cit., p. 56.

38 Birch, , op. cit., vol. iii, p. 340.

39 Ibid., vol. iv, p. 90; Waller, , op. cit., p. 77.

40 Birch, , op. cit., vol. iii, pp. 254, 263.

41 Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1677, xii, 893.

42 , J.B., viii, 200; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1694, xviii, 103.

43 , J.B., xi, 377.

44 Ibid., xiii, 284; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1727–1728, xxxv, 653.

45 Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1727–1728, xxxv, 384.

46 , J.B., xxi, 372–3; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1753, xlviii, 261–4.

47 , J.B., xxi, 199, 601–3; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1754, xlviii, 776–80.

48 , J.B., xxi, 373–5; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1753, xlviii, 264–70.

49 , J.B., xxxi, 274–85; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1784, lxxiv, 35–57.

50 , J.B., xxviii, 455–6; xxxiv, 514; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1776, lxvi, 504–8.

51 , J.B., xxxi, 565–72; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1785, lxxv, 190–212.

52 Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1796, lxxxvi, 254–5.

53 , J.B., xxxiv, 515; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1792, lxxxii, 270–82.

54 Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1792, lxxxii, 28–9.

55 Ibid., 1792, lxxxii, 29–47.

56 , J.B., xiii, 136.

57 Ibid., viii, 272, 309.

58 Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1746, xliv, 81.

59 , J.B., xxxiv, 412–7.

60 Ibid., viii, 272.

61 Ibid., x, 102–7; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1704–1705, xxiv, 1865–6; 1706–7, xxv, 2279–80.

62 , J.B., x, 564.

63 Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1792, lxxxii, 28–47.

64 , J.B., viii, 309.

65 Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1746, xliv, 81–91.

66 , J.B., xxvii, 61; xxviii, 454–5; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1771, lxi, 212.

67 , J.B., xxix, 452–5.

68 Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1698, xx, 306.

69 , J.B., vii, 84.

70 Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1704–1705, xxiv, 2131; 1706–7, xxv, 2279–80; 1708–9, xxvi, 71.

71 , J.B., xxi, 588.

72 Ibid., xi, 368–9.

73 Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1746, xliv, 81–91.

74 , J.B., xxix, 452–5.

75 Ibid., xxxi, 572; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1785, lxxv, 208–12.

76 Birch, , op. cit., vol. iii, p. 63.

77 Ibid., vol. iii, pp. 194–5, 268; Waller, , op. cit., pp. 186et seq.

78 Birch, , op. cit., vol. iii, pp. 268–9.

79 Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1695–1697, xix, 286–7.

80 Ibid., 1700–1, xxii, 904–5.

81 , J.B., xxx, 462; xxxii, 305–6; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1720, xxxi, 3; 1727–8, xxxv, 57; 1782, lxxii, 164; 1786, lxxvi, 500–7.

82 , J.B., xxiv, 455; xxvi, 722; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1761–1762, lii, 578–80; 1766, lvi, 262–9.

83 , J.B., xxx, 630; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1783, lxxiii, 6.

84 , J.B., xxxii, 305–6; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1786, lxxvi, 500–7.

85 , J.B., xxxvi, 545–6.

86 Ibid., xxxv, 471–85; xxxvi, 144–50; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1796, lxxxvi, 227–77; 1797, lxxxvii, 352–85.

87 , J.B., xxxvi, 287–91; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1798, lxxxviii, 311–31.

88 Birch, , op. cit., vol. i, p. 280.

89 Ibid., vol. iii, pp. 29–41; Hooke, , op. cit., pp. 47et seq.

90 Birch, , op. cit., vol. iii, pp. 247–304.

91 , J.B., xxi, 374–5; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1753, xlviii, 261–70.

92 Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1770, lx, 430.

* Read at a meeting of the Society, on 14 May 1962, the President in the Chair. Much of the information in this paper has been obtained from the Journal Book (referred to below as J.B.) of the Royal Society, and the author wishes to record his gratitude to the President and Fellows of the Society for allowing him access to their Archives and for permission to publish extracts from this source. He also wishes to express his appreciation of the help given to him by the Librarian of the Royal Society and his staff.

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