Corpuscular theory of light
Teoría corpuscular de la luz
- Date
- 1704 · confidence high
- Place
- London, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Isaac Newton
- People
- 👤 Isaac Newton1642–1727
- Field
- Communication
What was discovered
Light is made up of particles emitted by luminous bodies, which explains rectilinear propagation, reflection and (with an attraction towards the medium) refraction. It dominated the 18th century thanks to Newton's authority, until displaced by wave theory.
It wrongly predicts that light travels faster in glass; Foucault disproved this in 1850.
What it led to
- Two-century-long particle-wave debate
- Einstein's photon (1905) as a partial return
- Michell's optics (classical black holes)
Built on
- Gassendi's atomism
- Decomposition of light by prisms