F U RT H E R R E A D I N G

A very subjective collection of books to expand on the naturalhistory of light.

See the Light Years web page – http://www.brianclegg.net/lightyears/ – for insights, including some of the original paperswritten by Newton, Faraday and others.

Blish, James – Doctor Mirabilis. The science fiction writer James Blishproduced a tour-de-force in this historical novel of Roger Bacon’slife. Impressively researched, it gives a wonderful picture of thecomplexities of thirteenth century academic life.

Campbell, Lewis and Garnett, William – The Life of James ClerkMaxwell. Maxwell’s good friend Campbell does not produce anunbiased view of the great man’s life, but his closeness to the subjectgives an unparalleled opportunity to understand the single mostimportant figure in our understanding of light.

Clegg, Brian – The First Scientist. A biography of Roger Bacon, giving alot more detail on Bacon’s remarkable work.

Clegg, Brian – The God Effect. A detailed description of the backgroundto quantum entanglement and the remarkable applications that itmakes possible.

Clegg, Brian – The Man Who Stopped Time. Scientific biography ofEadweard Muybridge, focussing on the science of his stop motionphotography and his life.

David, Rosalie – Cult of the Sun. Useful background on Sun worship inancient Egypt.

Ditchburn, R. W. – Light. An excellent textbook exploring in greatdepth the physics of light. Very technical – not for the faint-hearted.

Euler, Leonard – Letters of Euler to a German Princess. Translated intoEnglish in the late 1700s by Henry Hunter, these letters remain afascinating snapshot of the way science was treated at the time.

247

Particularly fascinating when Hunter disagrees with Euler andinterposes his own comments.

Feynman, Richard – QED – The Strange Theory of Light and Matter. Asemi-popular exploration of the amazing world of quantum electro-dynamics by the greatest physicist since Einstein.

Feynman, Richard – Surely You’re Joking Mr Feynman! As well as being agreat physicist, Richard Feynman was a superb storyteller, and thiscollection of anecdotes about his life, told to fellow physicist RalphLeighton, are a joy to read.

French A. P. – Special Relativity. Undergraduate level textbook on rela-tivity that manages to explain the subject without becoming tooimpenetrable.

Gleick, James – Genius. A good attempt at capturing the essence ofRichard Feynman; less successful when it tries to explore the natureof genius, but good on the man.

Gleick, James – Isaac Newton. Not as good as The Last Sorcerer (White;see below) in capturing Newton, the man, but very good insightinto his physics and his work as Master of the Royal Mint.

Gribbin, John and Mary – Richard Feynman, A Life in Science. A valu-able complementary picture of Feynman’s life and work, putting itinto context in twentieth-century physics.

Harman, P. M. – The Natural Philosophy of James Clerk Maxwell. Adetailed book on Maxwell’s theories and the way that they weredeveloped. Sometimes hard going, but valuable.

Herbert, Nick – Faster than Light. An examination of superluminalloopholes in physics. Predates Chiao and Nimtz’s superluminalexperiments, but shows various alternatives, explores EPR and laysthe foundation for the workings of the superluminal signals.Becomes a little obscure occasionally, but largely readable.

Moore, Patrick – Eyes of the Universe. A typically personal tour by lead-ing amateur astronomer Patrick Moore through the history of tele-scopes from the very first through to the instruments of the late1990s. Issued for the 40th anniversary of his Sky at Night TVprogramme.

Newton, Sir Isaac – Opticks. Available in a reprint dating back to the1950s, Newton’s classic is surprisingly readable, partly because itpredates the rather precious way that modern scientific writing isalways written passively (‘it was observed that...’).

Sabra, A. I. – Theories of Light from Descartes to Newton. The definitiveexposition of one of the key periods of change in our understandingof light. Concentrates on the way Descartes, Huygens and Newton

248 L I G H T Y E A R S

approached scientific discovery. Based on a PhD thesis, so a littledry.

Sobel, Michael I. – Light. Good general technical description of lightand its workings.

White, Michael – Isaac Newton, The Last Sorcerer. A fascinating biogra-phy of Newton that digs below the legend that was already estab-lished by the end of Newton’s life.

White, Michael and Gribbin, John – Einstein, A Life in Science. Likethe Gribbins’ book on Feynman, a particularly useful biography as itplaces Einstein’s physics into the context of the science of the day.

Williamson, Samuel J. and Cummins, Herman Z. – Light and Color inNature and Art. An academic journey through the impact of lighton nature and art. Describes well the impact of the science of lighton both natural development and artistic interpretation.

Zajonc, Arthur – Catching the Light. Interesting exploration of the inter-section of light and the mind.

F U R T H E R R E A D I N G 249

I N D E X

acceleration 182action at a distance 219–20adaptive optics 56Adelson, Edward H. 15–16Adriaanzoon, Jacob 54Albertus Magnus 138Alexandria, library 25–6Alhazen 28–32alpha rays 143–4d’Anhalt Dessau, Princess 99Arago, Dominique François Jean

111arc lights 157Archimedes 21–3, 48–9Arecibo radio telescope 57Aristarchus 48–9Aristotle 58, 120art 164–5Ascoli, Jerome di 39Aspect, Alain 221Aten 12atmosphere, thickness of

30–1atom bomb 188atomists 19atoms 210–11

Bacon, Roger 33–41conflict with church 35–7contacts Guy de Foulques 35imprisonment 39optics 40–1

Opus Majus, Opus Minus, OpusTertium 38

Bartholin, Erasmus 70, 189Basov, Nikolai 214Bayard, Hippolyte 147Baywatch principle see principle

of least actionBecquerel, Antoine Henri 143Bell, John 220–1Bernoulli, Daniel 96–7Bernoulli, Johann 95–6Bethe, Hans 201bioluminescence 153–4blackbody radiation 171Bonaventura 34–6Bose, Satyendra 4Bose–Einstein condensates

3–5, 234Bourne, William 54Boys, Charles 216Brahe, Tycho 24Brougham, Henry 110Brunelleschi, Filippo 41–3

calcite 70see also Iceland spar

camera obscura 31–2, 146, 148candles 156Castel, Louis Bertrand 165cathode rays 141–2Causal Ordering Postulate 7–8Challenger disaster 193–4

250

Chiao, Raymond 7–9, 240–2China 14cinema 152–3

see also moving picturesclavessin oculair 165colour

addition 164arbitrariness of 81Goethe’s experiments 103Greek view 18, 81Maxwell’s theory of 131Newton’s theory 77–8, 81–2primary 164wavelength and 108

COP see Causal OrderingPostulate

Copernicus, Nicolaus 46–50Crookes, William 140–1cryptography 224–6, 228

Daedalus 13Daguerre, Louis-Jacques-Mandé

146–7daguerreotype 146

see also photographyDark Ages 28dark state 235Darwin, Charles 154Davy, Humphry 113–14, 145De Revolutionibus Orbium

Coelestium 47, 50Descartes, René 63–6, 121

eye 63plenum theory 64reflection 63refraction 64–6

Digges, Leonard 54Digges, Thomas 54Doctor Mirabilis see Bacon, RogerDürer, Albrecht 43Dyson, Freeman 204

Eastman, George 149Eddington, Sir Arthur 184–5Edison, Thomas 152–3, 157–61Eidgenössische Technische

Hochschule 175Einstein, Albert 172

Bose–Einstein condensates4–5

death 188divorce 185early life 173education 173–5general theory of relativity

182–6marriage to Elsa 185marriage to Mileva 177moves to USA 186photoelectric effect paper

178quantum theory and 187Second World War 188special theory of relativity

180–2speed of light 179stimulated emission 214Swiss citizenship 176Swiss Patent Office 176–7

electric light 159–60electromagnetic radiation see

lightelectromagnetism 114–17, 129elements, ancient 4, 17Empedocles 4, 14–18, 120

theory of light 17–18Enders, Achim 239entanglement 187–8, 219–25,

228–30EPR 187–8, 219ether 92, 165–8Euclid 20–21Euler, Leonhard 95–100

I N D E X 251

eyeas camera obscura 63image perception 151–2Newton’s experiments 79sensitivity to light 53da Vinci’s theory of 45

Faraday, Michael 112–19elected FRS 115electromagnetism experiments

114–17Fermat, Pierre de 66, 68Fermat’s last theorem 66–7Feynman diagrams 207, 209–10Feynman, Richard 193–205

birth 195breadth of interests 195–6cat story 196Challenger investigation

193–4education 196–7lock picking 202Manhattan Project 199–201marries Arline 200marries Gweneth 212marries Mary Lou 211moves to Princeton 197Nobel Prize 213quantum electrodynamics

203–5safe cracking 202weak force 213

fibre optics 215–16fire 156Fizeau, Armand 123–4fluorescent light 160–1Foucault, Jean Bernard Léon

124Foulques, Cardinal Guy de 35–6

death 39elected Pope 36

Fox Talbot, William Henry 148frequency 109, 125, 144Fresnel, Augustin 110–11, 189Freundlich, Erwin 184Friars Minor 34fusion 8–9

Gabor, Dennis 216–17galactic lensing 185–6Galilei, Galileo 57–62

conflict with church 62Jupiter’s moons 60–1measurement of speed of light

121telescopes 60

gamma rays 144gas lamps 156–7Geissler tubes 157, 160general theory of relativity

182–6Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von

101–4Gould, Gordon 214–15gravity 182–3Greece, ancient 13Gregory, James 55Grimaldi, Francesco 93Grosseteste, Robert 32–3Grover, Lov 227

Haller, Friedrich 176Hau, Lene Vestergaard 5,

234–5Helios 13Herschel, John 145Herschel, William 134–8Hertz, Heinrich 139–40Hipparchus 24holograms 5–6, 216–17

data storage 233Hooke, Robert 82–7

252 I N D E X

horses, locomotion 149–50Hunter, Henry 100Huygens, Christiaan 85, 93–4

Icarus 13Iceland spar 70–1, 189–90impressionism 164information, speed of 6Ingenhousz, Jan 155interference 107–8

Janssen, Hans 52Janssen, Zacharias 52, 54Joachim of Flora 34Jodrell Bank radio telescope 57Judaism 12Jupiter, moons of 60–1, 122

Kepler, Johannes 63

Land, Edwin 189–90lasers 6, 215–17, 232–3van Leeuwenhoek, Anton 52–3Leibniz, Gottfried 90–1lenses 40Leonhardt, Ulf 234Lettres à une princesse d’Allemagne

100light

Alhazen’s theory of 29cloning 228–9curved path 183electromagnetic spectrum

134electromagnetic waves

129–30Empedocles’ theory 17Euclid’s theory of 21Euler’s theory of 100–1Faraday’s theory of 117–19Fresnel’s theory of 111

Goethe’s theory of 104heating effect 137–8infrared 138Maxwell’s theory of 129Newton’s theory 78partial reflection 205–7particle theory 78, 86, 89–90perception of 104Plato’s theory of 20polarized 109, 189–91quanta 171–2, 178quantum electrodynamics

204–9scattering 163, 210slow 234spectrum 144speed of see speed of lightultraviolet 139, 171as a weapon 22wave theory 91–5, 107–9,

119light bulb 159–60Lippershey, Hans 53–4liquid crystal 190–1Löwenthal, Elsa 185Lumière brothers 153

magnetism 116Magueijo, João 126Maiman, Theodore 214–15Malus, Etienne 190Manhattan Project 199–201Marconi, Guglielmo 140Maric, Mileva 175–7maser 214matter, states of 4Mauborgne, Captain Joseph

224Maurolico, Francesco 45Maxwell, James Clerk 127–32,

134, 166

I N D E X 253

Maxwell’s equations 129–31metre, defined by speed of light

125Michelson, Albert 124, 166–8Michelson–Morley experiment

166–8microscopes 52–3Millikan, Robert 186mirrors 30Morley, Edward 166–8Mo-Tzu 14–15moving pictures 150–3

see also cinemaMozart’s 40th symphony 241Muybridge, Eadweard 149–50,

152needle in a haystack 227negative image 146, 148

Newton, Isaac 73–91avoids plague 78conflict with Hooke 83–7correspondence with Hooke

86criticism of Ptolemy 24–5early life 73–5education 73, 75–6elected FRS 82elected to Parliament 88experiments on own eyes 79Lucasian Chair 80Opticks 84, 89prisms 77at Royal Mint 88–9reflecting telescope 55refraction 80theory of colour 77, 80theory of light 78at university 76work destroyed by fire 85

Niépce, Joseph 146

Nile, controlling 28–9Nimtz, Günter 239–45

Ockham’s razor 70oil lamps 156Oldenburg, Henry 82, 86one-time pad 224–5optical black holes 234–5optical computing 232–3optical illusions 15Opticks 84–5optics

Bacon’s theories 40da Vinci 45see also fibre optics

paintings 42–3Pardies, Ignance Gaston 84persistence of vision 151perspective 42–3phlogiston 154–5phosphorescence 153–4photoelectric effect 177–8photography 131–2, 138–9,

145–50exposure time 147fixing images 145horse locomotion 149negative image 146, 148roll film 149see also daguerreotype

photons 4, 178, 204–5entangled 187–8partial reflection 205–7tunnelling 9

photosynthesis 154–6Piwnicki, Paul 234Planck, Max 170–2Plato 19–20

theory of light 20plenum 64

254 I N D E X

Podolsky, Boris 187pointillism 164Poisson, Siméon-Denis 111polarization 109, 189Polaroid Corporation 190pottery 145Priestley, Joseph 154–5prime number joke 242principle of least action 68prisms 80–1, 102–3probabilities 208Prochorov, Alexander 214Ptolemy 23–4

detractors 24

QED see quantum electrodynamicsquanta 171–2quantum computing 226–8quantum cryptography 228quantum electrodynamics

203–11quantum mechanics 8quantum teleportation 229,

237qubit 226

Ra 12radio telescopes 57Rayleigh, Baron 163reflection 63

off-angle 208–10partial 205–7, 210quantum electrodynamics

208–9total internal 215–16

refraction 66–9Alhazen’s theory of 31Descartes’ theory 64–6different colours 80Iceland spar 70–1principle of least action 68

Ptolemy’s theory of 23–4setting Sun 30–1wave theory 94

Riebau, George 112–13Ritter, Johann 139Rømer, Ole 120–3Röntgen rays see X-raysRöntgen, Wilhelm Conrad

140–2Rosen, Nathan 187Royal Institution 112, 118Royal Mint 88Royal Society 82Rutherford, Ernest 143–4

saccades 152Sand Reckoner, The 48Schawlow, Arthur 214Schwinger, Julian 204sight, Empedocles’ theory 17–18sky, colour of 161–3slow glass 2–3, 5–6Snell, Willebrord van Roijen 66Snell’s Law 66solar eclipse 184–5solar sponge 61space, curved 183space shuttle 193special theory of relativity 6,

180–2, 222–3, 234speed of light 6, 120, 180, 238

in Bose–Einstein condensate5

calculation of 125communicating faster than

222–4, 241–3constant 126different velocities within

pulse 243Einstein’s theory 179–80fixing of 125

I N D E X 255

Fizeau’s measurement 123Foucault’s measurement 124in glass 3Galileo’s attempt to measure

120–1invariable 180Maxwell’s theory 129measuring 166–8Michelson’s measurement 124Rømer’s measurement 122–3travelling faster than

238–40, 244in vacuum 3

Stanford, Leland 149–50Starry Messenger, The 60stimulated emission 214–15Stokes, Henry 75Stonehenge 12Stourbridge prism 76–7Strutt, John see Rayleigh, BaronSun

fusion 8–9in Empedocles’ theory 18

superfluidity 212Swan, Joseph 160

teleportation 236–7telescopes 53–60

adaptive optics 56Galileo and 59–60Herschel’s 135–7Hooke’s false claim 84inventor of 54Mount Palomar 56radio 57reflecting 55

Cassegrainian 55Newtonian 55

refracting 53types of 53

time 207

time dilation 181time travel 6–7Tomonaga, Sin’Itiro 204total internal reflection 215–16Traité de la Lumière 93tunnelling 8–9Turner, Joseph 164Tyndall, John 161–3tyrants 14

ultraviolet catastrophe 171,178

UniverseCopernican theory 47–50,

61Ptolemaic theory 46

uranium 143Uranus 136

Vernam, Gilbert 224da Vinci, Leonardo 43–5

Wang, Lijun 244–5waveguide, undersized 239–40,

243wavelength 108–9, 125, 144wavelets 94–5waves 92

compression 109weapons 22Wedgwood, Thomas 145Wheatstone, Charles 112Wollaston, William 114world lines 198–9, 209

X-rays 140–3

Young, Thomas 106–10

Zeilinger, Anton 236–7zoöpraxiscope 150, 152

256 I N D E X

BROKEN GENIUSTHE RISE AND FALL OF WILLIAM SHOCKLEY

CREATOR OF THE ELECTRONIC AGEby Joel N. Shurkin

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Time magazine named Nobel laureate William Shockley one of themost important people of the twentieth century. Why did a man sounquestionably brilliant knowingly and deliberately destroy himself?

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10 QUESTIONS SCIENCE CAN’T ANSWER (YET)by Michael Hanlon

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Ten examples of the different kinds of mysteries scientists have yet tocrack, some plausible theories and a few less likely ones. Find out whythese questions, and others like them, remain, and when – or indeedwhether – we might get some answers.

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SEX, DRUGS & DNASCIENCE’S TABOOS CONFRONTED

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