Newton used the failure of the wave theory to prove that light is made of particles. Newton concluded
that light is composed of colored particles that combine to appear white
Pythagoras believed beams of light were made of tiny particles and the eyes detected these particles and
allowed us to see.
Euclid states that light travels in straight lines and reflects from a surface at the same angle at which it hit it.
Al -Haytham wasthe first to explain that vision occurs when light reflects from an object and then passes to one's
eyes.[27] He was also the first to demonstrate that vision occurs in the brain, rather than in the eyes
Albert Michelson was known for measuring the speed of light and especially for the Michelson–Morley experiment.
Sources of Light
Sun
Fire
Torch
candle
star
Optical Devices
Telescopes
refractor
use lenses to focus light
Hans Lippershey made the 1st refracting telescope in 1608
reflaction
uses mirrors to focus light
Newton made the 1st working reflector telescope in 1668
periscopes
microscopes
infrared cameras
contact lenses
eye glasses
What is Light
The form of energy that we can see
Properties of Light
Rectilinear Propagation
Light Reflects
Light refracts or bends when it travels from one material to another because it changes speed slightly
Light disperses into all the colors that make up WHITE light (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo
and violet) when it passes through a prism because each color is a different wavelength and is bent a
different amount
Light travels through a vacuum (that is, light does NOT require particles of matter to travel) which is
why we see light from faraway stars even through empty space
Light travels through objects to different degrees (e.g. a window pane vs a frosted window pane vs a
wooden door)
Human Eye (Anatomy and function) compared to a Traditional Camera (Anatomy and Function)
There are many similarities between the human eye and a camera, including: a diaphragm to control the
amount of light that gets through to the lens. This is the shutter in a camera, and the pupil, at the
center of the iris, in the human eye. a lens to focus the light and create an image. The image is real and
inverted. a method of sensing the image. In a camera, film is used to record the image; in the eye, the
image is focused on the retina, and a system of rods and cones is the front end of an image-processing
system that converts the image to electrical impulses and sends the information along the optic nerve
to the brain.
Diiferences of Human Eye and Camera
Human Eye
Lens Focus: the lens changes shape to focus: The muscles in your eyes change the actual shape of the lens inside
your eyes.
Sensitivity to light: The human retina is not unifornml sensitive to light.
the human eye is a subjective device. This means that your eyes work in harmony with your brain to
create the images you perceive: Your eyes are adjusting the focus (by bending the light through the lens
in your eyeballs) and translating photons (light) into an electrical impulse your brain can process.
Camera
Lens focus: In camera, the lens moves closer/further from the film to focus.
Sensitivity to light: A film in a camera is uniformly sensitive to light.
A camera, on the other hand, is an absolute measurement device — It is measuring the light that hits a
series of sensor, but the sensor is ‘dumb’, and the signals recorded need to be adjusted to suit the color
temperature of the light illuminating the scene