Wave or Particle? How Light Outgrew Both
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Isaac NewtonHistorical profile·#5819·1706·AI-assisted
Light is a stream of tiny particles thrown off by shining things. They fly in straight lines, which is why shadows are sharp. Glass and water pull them in as they enter, which bends their path and speeds them up.
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Thomas YoungHistorical profile·#5821·November 24, 1803·AI-assisted
Light added to light can make darkness. Hold a thin card in a narrow beam of light, and bright and dark stripes appear in its shadow; block the light passing one side of it, and they vanish. Waves can cancel each other out. Streams of particles can’t.
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Léon FoucaultHistorical profile·#5825·May 6, 1850·AI-assisted
Light travels more slowly through water than through air: measured with a spinning mirror, the light that went through water comes back later. Newton’s particles, pulled into the water, would travel faster there.
Criticism of #5819