A History of Optics from Greek Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century

• This book is the only recent history of optics of this scope and academic rigor
• Clear, accessible synthesis of recent scholarship, including novel contributions of the author
• Conceptual precision with abundant illustration
• Attention to effects of long-term memory
• Attention to the evolution of cultural contexts and to changes in disciplinary divisions and connections

Readership: Physics students from undergraduate level upwards; physicists, opticians, engineers interested in optics; students in history of physics, historians of science, philosophers of science; teachers in physics and history of physics.

Olivier Darrigol, Research Director at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Olivier Darrigol is Research Director at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, where he has been a researcher since 1983. He won the Marc-Auguste Pictet prize of the Société de Physique et d'Histoire Naturelle de Genève in 2000 and the Grammaticakis-Neumann prize of the French Academy of Sciences in 2004.

"Olivier Darrigol is one of the foremost and most productive historians of physics today. His books and articles cover a broad chronological period and are distinguished by their enormous scientific, historical, and philosophical sophistication. This book is no exception." - Roger H. Stuewer, University of Minnesota, USA

"An engaging and accomplished history that bridges the gap between narrow research and popular treatments." - Sean F. Johnston, University of Glasgow

"This highly recommended book is rigorous in its physics and mathematics and totally enjoyable to read." - Barry R. Masters, Optics & Photonics News

1: From the Greeks to Kepler
2: Mechanical medium theories of the seventeenth century
3: Newton's optics
4: The eighteenth century
5: Interference, polarization, and waves in the early nineteenth century
6: Ether and matter
7: Waves and rays