Wave theory of light and Huygens' principle
Teoría ondulatoria de la luz y principio de Huygens
- Date
- 1678-1690 · confidence high
- Place
- The Hague, Netherlands
- Credited to
- Christiaan Huygens
- People
- 👤 Christiaan Huygens1629–1695
- Field
- Communication
What was discovered
Every point on a wavefront acts as a source of secondary wavelets whose envelope forms the new wavefront; from this Huygens deduces reflection, refraction and the double refraction of Iceland spar. It is the first complete wave theory of light.
'Traité de la lumière', presented in 1678 and published in 1690; eclipsed by Newton's corpuscular theory until 1801.
What it led to
- Young and Fresnel's wave optics
- Huygens-Fresnel principle
- Explanation of birefringence
- Wave theory in general
Built on
- Finite speed of light1676
- Grimaldi's diffraction
- Bartholin's double refraction (1669)
Made possible
- Leibnizian calculus and notation1675
- Law of large numbers1713
- Young's double-slit interference experiment1801-1803
- Fresnel's wave theory of diffraction; transverse light waves1818
- Wavefront design of lenses and optical systems