The Rise of the Wave Theory of Light: Optical Theory and Experiment in the Early Nineteenth Century by Buchwald, Jed Z

paperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.

Paperback / softback. New. "No one interested in the history of optics, the history of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century physics, or the general phenomenon of theory change in science can afford to ignore Jed Buchwald's well-structured, highly detailed, and scrupulously researched book. . . . Buchwald's analysis will surely constitute the essential starting point for further work on this important and hitherto relatively neglected episode of theory change."-John Worrall, Isis

University Of Chicago Press, 1989. Paperback. New. 1st edition. 498 pages. 9.25x6.25x1.25 inches.

University Of Chicago Press, 1989. Paperback. New. 1st edition. 498 pages. 9.25x6.25x1.25 inches.

University of Chicago Press, 1989-03-15. Paperback. New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title!

Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 1989. Comprehensive text presents a new history of the fundamental changes in optical theory at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In the physics of that period, ether replaced the particle theory; in mathematics, waves replaced rays. Buchwald reconstructs the first empirically successful theory of partial reflection, originated by Etienne Louis Malus. He refutes the view of Thomas Young as champion of the wave theory, arguing that the wave theory became coherent and new only in the work of French physicist Augustin Fresnel. Buchwald further demonstrates that even scientists who disgarded the particle theory retained its mathematical apparatus, preventing their proper use of the new techniques. 474 pgs. Illustrated. Minimal shelfwear.. First Edition. Original Wraps. Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.