音频游览 Physics Cabinet: Optics Room

The nineteenth-century Optics is characterized by great progress both in the theoretical and in the experimental field.

It was in the first half of the century that the mathematical basis for the wave theory of light was established.

This theory, which considers the light as a wave of the hypothetical "luminiferous ether" takes hold slowly, to the detriment of Newton’s corpuscular theory of light and it allows to clearly explain the phenomena of polarization, interference, and diffraction.

During the 1860s, Maxwell managed to combine optics with electromagnetism: light is nothing but an electromagnetic wave.

In the nineteenth century, the number of tools used for studying and teaching optics increased considerably: these new instruments made it possible to show, often through projections, all those phenomena related to light, such as reflection and polarization.

The study of light spectra turned out to be a powerful means of chemical analysis, and optical devices started being applied in the most diverse fields: from controls on the quality of food products (saccharimeters, refractometers) to the efficiency of lighting systems (photometers).

The manufacture of optical glass took advantage of numerous and significant advances so as to dramatically improve the characteristics and performances of microscopes, which started being used in a more and more increasing the number of scientific disciplines.

In the astronomical field, the size of the refracting and reflecting telescopes was constantly growing.

Among the many innovations of the century, photography definitely stands out, which would become before long extremely popular but would also find innumerable scientific applications, as well as the cinematography, whose success was already spreading thanks to optical games and magic lanterns.