Instrumental Traditions and Theories of Light: The Uses of Instruments in the Optical Revolution

229 Pages·2000·11.28 MB·English

by  Xiang Chen (auth.)

INSTRUMENTALTRADITIONSANDTHEORIESOFLIGHT
Science and Philosophy
VOLUME9
SeriesEditor
NancyJ.Nersessian,PrograminCognitiveScience, CollegeofComputing, andSchoolof
PublicPolicy, GeorgiaInstituteofTechnology, Atlanta
EditorialAdvisoryBoard
JosephAgassi,DepartmentofPhilosophy,YorkUniversityandTelAvivUniversity(Emeritus)
GeoffreyCantor,DepartmentofPhilosophy, UniversityofLeeds
NancyCartwright,DepartmentofPhilosophy, LondonSchoolofEconomics
JamesT.Cushing,DepartmentofPhysicsandDepartmentofPhilosophy,NotreDame
University
LindleyDarden,CommitteeontheHistoryandPhilosophyofScience, UniversityofMaryland
MaxDresden,InstituteforTheoreticalPhysics, SUNYStonyBrook(Emeritus)
AllanFranklin,DepartmentofPhysics, UniversityofColorado, Boulder
MarjorieGrene,DepartmentofPhilosophy, UniversityofCalifornia, Davis(Emeritus)
AdolfGriinbaum,DepartmentofPhilosophy, UniversityofPittsburgh
RichardLewontin,MuseumofComparativeZoology, HarvardUniversity
ThomasNickles,DepartmentofPhilosophy, UniversityofNevada, Reno
DudleyShapere,DepartmentofPhilosophy, WakeForestUniversity
Thisserieshasbeenestablishedasaforumforcontemporaryanalysisofphilosophicalproblems
whicharise inconnection with the construction oftheories in the physical and the biological
sciences. Contributions will not place particularemphasison anyone school ofphilosophical
thought.However,theywillreflectthebeliefthatthephilosophyofsciencemustbefirmlyrooted
inan examination ofactual scientificpractice. Thus, the volumes in this series will includeor
dependsignificantlyuponananalysisofthehistoryofscience,recentorpast.TheEditorswelcome
contributionsfromscientistsaswellasfromphilosophersandhistoriansofscience.
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedattheendofthisvolume.
INSTRUMENTAL
TRADITIONS AND
THEORIES OF LIGHT
The U ses of Instruments
in the Optical Revolution
by
XIANGCHEN
California Lutheran University
SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
A C.I.P. Ctalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-94-010-5824-7 ISBN 978-94-011-4195-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-011-4195-6
Printed an acidjree paper
AII Rights Reserved
© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 2000
Softcover reprint of the hardcover l st edition 2000
No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or
utilized in any form Of by any means, electronic Of mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.
To LiLi,
my "ultimate classmate",
forherunderstandingandlove
CONTENTS
ListofFigures xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction xv
Chapter I. ComparisonsofExplanatoryPower
I. IntroducingthewavetheorytoBritain I
2. Comparingtheexplanatorypowers 3
3. Thereflectionofaparticletheorist 6
4. Improvingtheexplanatorypoweroftheparticletheory 7
5. Theproblemofselectiveabsorption 9
Chapter2. ExplanatoryPowerandClassification
I. TheNewtoniantaxonomicsystems 13
2. Herschel'ssyntheticattempt 17
3. Lloyd'sdichotomousdesign 21
Chapter3. ClassificationandtheUseofInstruments
I. Brewster'splatepolarizersandcrystalanalyzers 27
2.Fresnel'sinnovativeusesofcrystalanalyzers 32
3.Herschel'sunderstandingofpartialpolarization 37
4. Lloydandconicalpolarization 40
Chapter4.TheDisputeoverDispersion
1.Powell'sformulas ofdispersion 47
2. Fraunhofer'stheodolitesandspectrallines 49
3. Powell'shollowprismsandspectral lines 52
4. Brewster'stelescopeandspectral lines 57
5. Thedifficultiesofmakinggratings 61
6. Theimpasseinthe debate 65
Chapter5. TheDiscoveryofthe"PolarityofLight"
1.Thediscoveryofthe"polarityoflight" 69
2. Brewster'sclassification 72
3.Thewaveexplanations 76
vii
Vlll CONTENTS
4. Thesetbackofthewavetheory 78
5.Powell'shollowprism 81
6. Stokes'ssolution 83
Chapter6.TheMeasurementsoftheIntensityofLight
1.Potter'sreflectingphotometer 87
2.Potter'smeasurementsofmetallicmirrors 91
3.Potter'smeasurementsofglassmirrors 93
4. Potter'scomparativephotometer 97
5. Thedebateonthereliabilityoftheeye 99
6.Potter'sattackonthewaveaccountofdiffraction 104
Chapter7. InstrumentalTraditions
1.Opticalinstrumentsas image-makingdevices 109
2. Theeyeas anopticalinstrument III
3. Opticalinstrumentsasmeasuringdevices 114
4. Whewellonopticalmeasurements 118
5.Thevisualtradition 121
6.Thegeometrictradition 125
Chapter8. TheGeometricTraditionandthe WaveTheoryofLight
I.Humboldtiansciences:measuringnature 129
2. Theshortageofscientificmanpowerinoptics 131
3.Anewgenerationofphysicists 134
4. Stokes'sexperimentsonfluorescence 137
5. Measuringthevelocityoflight 141
6.Thestatusofthewavetheory 144
Chapter9. TheVisualTraditionandtheClosureoftheOpticalRevolution
1. Stereoscopesandthestudiesofspaceperception 147
2. Stroboscopesandthestudiesofvisualpersistence 152
3. Kaleidoscopesandthemakingof"philosophicaltoys" 156
4. Binocularcamerasandthephotographicindustry 160
5.Theendoftheopticalrevolution 164
Conclusion 167
Appendixes
1.TheintensityoflightinBrewster'sexperimentofpolarization
bysuccessive refraction 175
2. Powell'scalculationofrefractiveindices 177
3. TherelativeerrorofPowell'smeasurementsofrefractiveindices 178
4. Powell'smathematicalanalysisofthe"polarityoflight" 180
IX
5. ArecalculationofthereflectivepowerofglasswithoutPotter's
approximations 181
Notes 183
References 191
NameIndex 201
SubjectIndex 205
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure2.1 Brewster'staxonomy 16
Figure2.2Herschel'staxonomy 18
Figure2.3 Lloyd'staxonomy 23
Figure3.1 Brewster'splatepolarizerandcrystalanalyzer 29
Figure3.2Brewster'sprocedureforclassifyingpolarization 32
Figure3.3 Arago'sapparatusfor interferenceofpolarizedlight 34
Figure3.4Fresnel'sprocedureforclassifyingpolarization 36
Figure3.5 Herschel'sapparatusforproducingchromaticpolarization 38
Figure 3.6Lloyd'sapparatusforproducingexternalconicalrefraction 42
Figure3.7Lloyd's lawofconicalpolarization 43
Figure4.1 Fraunhofer'sspectroscope 50
Figure4.2ComparisonsofPowell'scalculationsandFraunhofer's
measurements 52
Figure4.3Powell'sspectroscope 54
Figure4.4Brewster'sapparatusforproducingprismaticspectra 58
Figure4.5Brewster'sdiffractionspectra 63
Figure5.1 Talbot'sapparatusforproducing"Talbot'sbands" 70
Figure 5.2Brewster'sapparatusforproducingthe"polarityoflight" 71
Figure5.3 Relationsbetweenpolarityandrefrangibility 74
Figure 5.4Brewster'sclassificationofpolarization 75
Figure5.5Powell'sapparatusforproducingthe"polarityoflight" 82
Figure5.6Stokes'sapparatusforproducingthe"polarityoflight" 85
Figure6.1 William Herschel'sapparatusformeasuringreflectivepower 88
Figure6.2Potter'sreflectingphotometer 90
Figure6.3 Potter'sreflectingphotometer(details) 91
Figure6.4ComparisonsbetweenPotter'smeasurementsandFresnel's
predictions 95
Figure6.5 Potter'smeasurements: Arecalculationwithouttheapproximations 96
Figure6.6Potter'scomparativephotometer 97
Figure6.7Forbes's"thermalphotometer" 101
Figure6.8Forbes'sproposedexperiment 102
xi
xii FIGURES
Figure7.1 Newton'sapparatusfortestingthesinelaw 115
Figure7.2Brewster'sapparatusformeasuringrefractiveindices 117
Figure 7.3 Thevisualtradition 124
Figure 7.4Rayleigh's interferencerefractometer 126
Figure7.5 Thegeometrictradition 128
Figure 8.1 Numbersofpaperspresentedin SectionAofthe British
Association, 1831-1855 132
Figure 8.2Numbersofpaperspublishedbyold-generationwavetheorists 133
Figure8.3Numbersofpaperspublishedbynew-generationwavetheorists 135
Figure 8.4 Stokes'sapparatusfor detectingfluorescence 139
Figure 8.5Fizeau'sapparatusformeasuringthevelocityoflight 142
Figure 8.6Foucault'sapparatusformeasuringthe velocityoflight 144
Figure9.1 Wheatstone'sreflectingstereoscope 149
Figure9.2Convergenceofopticaxes 151
Figure9.3 Brewster'slenticularstereoscope 152
Figure9.4Faraday'sanorthoscope 153
Figure9.5 Plateau'sstroboscope 155
Figure9.6Brewster'skaleidoscope 157
Figure9.7Numbersofoptical instrumentmakersinBritain, 1801-1850 159
Figure9.8 Single-lensstereoscopiccamera,designedbyT.H. Powell 161
Figure9.9Double-lensstereoscopiccamera, designedbyBrewster 162