The Universe of Light, a physics text under discussion

[TheTimeField]

The Universe of Light a very interesting read.

[Cosmo]

I had to look this one up, found a great explanation in an Amazon review:

In around 1959, when I was a precocious middle schooler, my father gave me the Dover reprint of this 1933 classic. The book describes all of the observations involving light in the 19th century which had led to our modern scientific understanding of light. The observations are captured very effectively with words, photographs and diagrams but no mathematics. I recall poring through the book through the remainder of my middle and high school. Inspired by the book I made some of the observations for myself. When I took advanced physics courses in college and graduate school the topics I learned about through mathematics were already alive in my mind because of the Bragg book. Recently I wanted to refer to my 1959 Dover book but found it missing. Trying to replace it I was delighted to find the 1933 edition available. To be honest, the presentation is a bit dated in terms of style and language almost 90 years after it was written, but the content is as valid as ever. It has a very special place in my personal life. Thanks!

B0006AM8F4

I’d be interested in seeing a picture of some of the diagrams, this sounds really cool.

[Dizzie]

The Universe of Light a very interesting read.

What are some concepts or anecdotes from the book that stand out to you? I’ve been slowly getting through Accessory to War by Neil DeGrasse Tyson and it has a lot to say (more in layman’s terms) about the spectrum of visible and non-visible light. I think that infrared was the first to be accepted as real after a successful experiment in the 1800s.

I saw an article headline recently that Hubble had detected a star well over 20 billion light years away. My jaw dropped as I just stared at the headline in awe. I didn’t even read the article - it was enough for me just to take in that evidence of the incomprehensible expanse of the known universe.