Issac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1727), a well known English
physicist, mathematician, philosopher, and astronomer. Most people know
Newton for his three laws of motion as well as the apple falling down the
tree experiment. What most people do not know is that he is also known for
his investigation and experiment with the refraction of light as well as
proving that a prism could decompose white light into a spectrum of colors,
and that a lens and a second prism could recompose the multicolored spectrum
into white light. He first became interested in lights when he notices the
nature of light and went to the point that he would stare right into the sun,
risking his eyesight just to enjoy its magnificent glory.
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He also showed that the
colored of the light does not change its properties by separating out a colored
beam and shining it on various objects. Newton noted that regardless of whether
it was reflected or scattered or transmitted, it stayed the same color. Thus,
he observed that color is the result of objects interacting with
already-colored light rather than objects generating the color themselves. This
is known as Newton’s theory of color. From this work, he concluded that the
lens of any refracting telescope would suffer from the dispersion of light into
colors (chromatic aberration).
Above showed Newton first handmade telescope, but this is
only the replica of the original. He builds the telescope to prove his theory
of light being bent does not change its properties as well as magnifying the
objects from a great distance. It is known as the Newtonian telescope. Newton
did not know it yet, but his telescope is going to be an invention that changes
astronomy and set paths for future generations in understanding the universe. So
using mirrors of reflective speculum metal, the light did not go through, but
bounce off the surface instead. Newton’s ring causes the reflection of the
light that created an interference pattern and it is being used to view the
object much better. His invention become so well known that when he is asked to
present it to the Royal Society in 1671, they are quite impress with the result
that they encouraged him to publish it. He did just that when he publish his
notes into his now known novel called Opticks,
which introduces the theory of light.
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If you are interested in reading Newton’s
Optical Papers, here is a link for it.
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