 The first, 1704, edition of Opticks: or, a treatise of the reflexions, refractions, inflexions and colours of light. | |
| Author | Isaac Newton |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Optics |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
Publication date | 1704 |
| Publication place | Great Britain |
| Media type | |
| Text | Opticks at Wikisource |
Opticks: or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light is a collection of three books by Isaac Newton that was published in English in 1704 (a scholarly Latin translation appeared in 1706).[1] The treatise analyzes the fundamental nature of light by means of the refraction of light with prisms and lenses, the diffraction of light by closely spaced sheets of glass, and the behaviour of color mixtures with spectral lights or pigment powders. Opticks was Newton's second major work on physical science and it is considered one of the three major works on optics during the Scientific Revolution (alongside Johannes Kepler's Astronomiae Pars Optica and Christiaan Huygens' Treatise on Light). Newton's name did not appear on the title page of the first edition of Opticks.
- ^ Newton, Isaac (1998). Opticks: or, a treatise of the reflexions, refractions, inflexions and colours of light. Also two treatises of the species and magnitude of curvilinear figures. Commentary by Nicholas Humez (Octavo ed.). Palo Alto, Calif.: Octavo. ISBN 1-891788-04-3. (Opticks was originally published in 1704).