History of the Principle of Interference of Light

267 Pages·1991·5.503 MB·English

by  Nahum Kipnis (auth.)

Science Networks . Historical Studies
Volume 5
Edited by Erwin Hiebert and Hans WuBing
Editorial Board
S. M. R. Ansari, Aligarh R. Halleux, Licge
D. Barkan, Cambridge S. Hildebrandt, Bonn
H.J.M.Bos, Utrecht E. Knobloch, Berlin
U. Bottazzini, Bologna Ch. Meinel, Berlin
J. Z. Buchwald, Toronto G. K. Mikhailov, Moskva
S. S. Demidov, Moskva S. Nakayama, Tokyo
J. Dhombres, Nantes L. Novy, Praha
J. Dobrzycki, Warszawa D. Pingree, Providence
Fan Dainian, Beijing W. Purkert, Leipzig
E. A. Fellmann, Basel J. S. Rigden, New York
M. Folkerts, Munchen D. Rowe, Pleasantville
P. Galison, Stanford A. 1. Sabra, Cambridge
1. Grattan-Guinness, Bengeo R. H. Stuewer, Minneapolis
J. Gray, Milton Keynes V. P. Vizgin, Moskva
Springer Basel AG
Nahum Kipnis
History of the
Principle of Interference of Light
Springer Basel AG
Nahum Kipnis
The Bakken
3537 Zenith Ave. So.
Minneapolis, MN 55416
USA
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Kipnis, Nahum S.
History of the principle of interference of light/Nahum Kipnis.
p. cm. - (Science networks historical studies; v. 5)
Revision ofthesis (Ph. D.) - University of Minnesota, 1984.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-3-0348-9717-4 ISBN 978-3-0348-8652-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-0348-8652-9
1. Interference (Light) - History. 2. Optics - History - 19th
century. 3. Young, Thomas, 1773-1829.1. Title. II. Series.
QC41l.K53 1990
535.4-dc20
CIP-Titelaufnahme der Deutschen Bibliothek
Kipnis, Nahum:
History ofthe principle of interference of lightlNahum
Kipnis. - Basel; Boston; Berlin: Birkhiiuser, 1990
(Science networks historical studies; VoI. 5)
ISBN 978-3-0348-9717-4
NE:GT
This work is subject to copyright. Ali rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of
the material is concemed, specifically those of translation, reprinting, re-use of
illustrations, broadcasting, reproduction by photocopying machine or similar means,
and storage in data banks. Unter § 54 of the German Copyright Law where copies are
made for other than private use a fee is payable to "Verwertungsgesellschaft Wort",
Munich.
© 1991 Springer Basel AG
Originally published by Birkhliuser Verlag, Basel in 1991
Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover Ist edition 1991
ISBN 978-3-0348-9717-4
Contents
Preface 11
Chapter I Interference: historiography and physics 13
1.1 The "mystery" of Young's theory 13
1.2 New approach 15
1.3 What is "Young's wave theory"? 17
1.4 "Interference" or "superposition"? 17
1.5 What is the "acceptance of a theory"? 24
Chapter II Thomas Young and the problem of intersecting sounds 25
Section I: Young 25
11.1 What did Young discover about interference? 25
11.2 Young on interference of sound 26
Section II: Youngs predecessors 32
11.3 Reinforcement of sound 32
11.4 Destruction of sound 35
11.5 Do intersecting sound waves interact? 37
11.6 Mathematical approach to independence of sound 39
11.7 Harmonics 41
11.8 The third sound 44
11.9 Summary 45
Chapter III Young on interference of mechanical waves 47
111.1 Standing waves 47
111.2 Tides 49
111.3 Coherence of mechanical waves 52
111.4 Response to the concept of interference of sound 55
a) Robison 55
b) Gough 57
c) Laterresponse 61
111.5 Summary 62
6 Contents
Chapter IV Discovery ofthe principle of interference oflight 65
IY.l Optical background 65
IY.2 Transition from acoustics to optics 74
IY.3 The problem of mathematical representation oflight 80
IY.4 What is the "law of interference"? 84
IY.5 The principle ofinterference and the theory of
interference 86
Chapter V Young's theory of interference and its application 91
Section I: Interference ofr eflected and refracted light 92
Y.l The colors of thin films 92
Y.2 The colors oft he "thick plates" 95
Y.3 The colors of the "mixed plates" 98
Y.4 The colors of supernumerary rainbows 100
Section II: Interference ofd iffracted light 102
Y.5 The colors of striated surfaces 102
Y.6 Diffraction oflight by a narrow body: internal fringes 105
Y.7 Diffraction oflight by a narrow body: external fringes 113
Y.8 The two-slit experiment 118
Section III: Young on coherence oflight 124
Y.9 The condition offrequency 126
Y.I0 The condition of direction 127
Y.ll The condition of path difference 128
Y.12 The condition of a common origin 130
Y.13 The condition ofthe size of a light source 133
Y.14 Summary 136
Chapter VI Response to the principle of interference (1801-1815) 138
VI.1 Early comments (1801-1805): general survey 139
VI.2 British reviews of Young's theory (1801-1805) 143
a) "Non-experts" 144
b) The Critical Review 145
c) The Monthly Review 146
d) The Edinburgh Magazine 148
e) The Edinburgh Review 151
Contents 7
VI.3 Later response (1807-1815) 155
~A ~m~ry 1~
Chapter VII Fresnel and the principle of interference 165
VII.1 Firstperiod(1815-1816) 166
a) Rediscovery of the principle ofinterference oflight 166
b) Diffraction by a narrow body 173
c) Reflection and refraction oflight 175
d) Other applications 176
e) Early definitions of the principle of interference and
conditions of coherence 179
VII.2 Second period (1816-1818) 185
VII.3 Third period (1819-1822) 191
VIlA Summary 197
Chapter VIII Response to Fresnel's principle of interference 199
VIII. 1 Arago 200
VII 1.2 Reception of Fresnel's first paper 208
VIII.3 Contest on diffraction 218
VIllA Response to Fresnel's prize-winning memoir 224
VIII.5 Principle of interference and the wave theory 227
VIII.6 Principle of interference and the emission theory 232
VIII.7 Understanding of coherence after Fresnel 235
VIII.8 Young's role after 1815 239
VIII.9 Summary 241
Conclusions 242
Appendix 245
Bibliography 250
Index 269
To Berta
11
Preface
The controversy between the wave theory and the emission theory of light early
in the nineteenth century has been a subject of numerous studies. Yet many is
sues remain unclear, in particular, the reasons for rejecting Young's theory of
light. It appears that further progress in the field requires a better grasp of the
overall situation in optics and related subjects at the time and a more thorough
study of every factor suggested to be of importance for the dispute.
This book is intended to be a step in this direction. It examines the impact of
the concept of interference of light on the development of the early nineteenth
century optics in general, and the theory of light, in particular. This is not a his
tory of the wave theory of light, nor is it a history of the debate on the nature of
light in general: it covers only that part of the controversy which involved the
concept of interference. Although the book deals with a number of scientists,
scientific institutions, and journals, its main character is a scientific concept, the
principle of interference. While discussing the reasons for accepting or rejecting
this concept I have primarily focused on scientific factors, although in some
cases the human factor is examined as well.
The book is a revised Ph. D. dissertation (University of Minnesota, 1984) writ
ten under Alan E. Shapiro. My first gratitude is to the late Usher Frankfurt (Mos
cow) who introduced me to the history of science. I am indebted to Alan Shapiro
and Roger Stuewer for helping me to settle in the U.S.A. and continue my re
search as well for providing examples of fine scholarship and teaching. Ivor
Grattan-Guinness and Charles Gillispie deserve my special appreciation for
their efforts to get my thesis published.
I would like to thank the librarians and staff of the following institutions:
Interlibrary Loan Division of the University of Minnesota Libraries, British
Library, the Royal Society Library, the Library of University College London,
and Bibliotheque de l'Institut.
For permitting me to reproduce manuscript material I express my gratitude to
the Royal Society, the Library of University College London, British Library,
and Bibliotheque de l'Institut. I am grateful to the Minneapolis Foundation for
a grant-in-aid of research.
My thanks go to John Senior, director, and my colleagues at The Bakken, a
Library and Museum of Electricity in Life, for allowing me time and providing
various help during my work on the book.
It is the most pleasant duty to thank my wife Berta for her patience and con
stant support and also for her help with drawings.
March 1989 Minneapolis N.Kipnis
13
Chapter I
The Concept of interference:
Historiography and physics
1.1 The "mystery" of Young's theory
The debate on the nature oflight began in antiquity and intensified in the second
half of the seventeenth century. The major struggle was between the wave hypo
thesis and the emission (or corpuscular) hypothesis. Among the prominent
scientists, Robert Hooke (1635-1703) and Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) ad
vocated the wave hypothesis, while Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was a champion
of the emission hypothesis. Throughout the eighteenth century, the "emission
ists" had the upper hand, and despite Leonhard Euler's (1707-1783) efforts to
reverse this trend, by 1800, the wave hypothesis was almost universally ignored.
In 1799, Thomas Young (1773-1829) began to bring in new arguments in favor
of the wave hypothesis oflight. The most important one was the concept ofinter
ference oflight, which he discovered in 1801. The new wave theory received little
recognition, however, and the situation began to change only after Augustin
Jean Fresnel (1788-1827) rediscovered in 1815 the concept of interference and
offered a theory very similar to Young's.
The fact that Fresnel's theory won acceptance while Young's theory did not
has puzzled historians of science ever since the 1830s. They have concurred that
the extreme conciseness of Young's papers could have prevented readers from
understanding his theory but have disagreed on the role of other factors. Young's
contemporaries Fran~ois Arago (1786-1853), William Whewell (1794-1866),
and George Peacock (1791-1858) argued that Young's theory was superior to the
emission theory oflight and was rejected for external reasons, such as Newton's
opposition to the wave hypothesis of light and a severe criticism of Young's
works by Henry Brougham (1778-1868).l This "externalist" view has been
I Arago, "Thomas Young", Oeuvres completes, 15 vols (Paris, 1954-59), I : 241-94; Whewell, History
o/the Inductive SCiences/rom the Earliest to the Present Time [1837), 3rd ed., 2 vols (New York,
1901),2: Ill-18; Peacock, Life o/Thomas Young (London, 1855), 174-85. In this book, either
"wave theory" or "emission theory" means a quantitative theory based on the wave or emission
hypothesis, respectively.