Theory Gallery

Newton's Opticks with colour Spectrum

Opticks by the English physicist and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), published in 1704 with a colour spectrum produced by a prism projected across the title page. This work was based on Newton's own experimental investigations into the behaviour of light. In Opticks he discussed topics such as the refraction of light by prisms and the rings of coloured light formed between a lens and a mirror in contact with each other (later termed Newton's rings). In Isaac Newton's time, it was believed that white light was colourless, and that the prism itself produced the colour. Newton's experiments convinced him that all the colours already existed in the light in a heterogeneous fashion, and that "corpuscles" (particles) of light were fanned out because particles with different colours travelled with different speeds through the prism.

© DAVID PARKER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Starlight bent by the Sun's Attraction: The Einstein Theory

This diagram drawn by W. B. Robinson illustrates Professor Einstein's Theory that light is subject to gravitation. The drawing was based on British observers' photographs at the eclipse of the sun on the 28-29th May 1919. Photographs of stars were taken during the total eclipse, which were then compared to other plates of the same region taken when the sun was not in the neighbourhood. Comparing the two plates, the stars on the eclipse plates seemed to be pushed outwards, thus starlight was found to be bent by the sun's attraction. Dr A. C. Crommelin, a British observer working on the project, wrote that 'straight lines in Einstein's space cannot exist; they are parts of gigantic curves.'

© Mary Evans Picture Library 2015 - https://copyrighthub.org/s0/hub1/creation/maryevans/MaryEvansPictureID/10224915

Higgs Boson particle, artwork

Higgs Boson particle. Computer artwork of a yellow sphere in a circular chamber with light emanating from behind it. This could represent the Higgs Boson particle being discovered in a particle accelerator. The Higgs Boson is an elementary particle predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics. It is the only particle of the Standard Model which is yet to be detected (as of 2009). Particle accelerators are enormous circular tunnels built underground. They are used to accelerate particles towards each other at massive speeds. When the particles collide they break up into smaller particles, revealing their component parts. It is hoped that this process will enable the detection of the Higgs Boson.

© LAGUNA DESIGN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY