Opticks - (Dover Books on Physics) by Sir Isaac Newton (Paperback)

About the Book

Readable classic offers a comprehensive survey of 18th-century knowledge of light, in which Newton describes his experiments with spectroscopy, colors, lenses, reflection, refraction, more. Based upon the 1730 fourth edition.

Book Synopsis

"Recommended to all scientists." -- Journal of Royal Naval Scientific Service
"The publishers do us a service by issuing this reprint." -- The Institute of Physics
"An underpinning for the entire edifice of physics." -- Scientific American
A comprehensive survey of eighteenth-century knowledge about all aspects of light, Opticks also offers countless scientific insights by its distinguished author. One of the most readable of all the great classics of physical science, this volume will impress readers with its surprisingly modern perspectives.
In language that lay readers can easily follow, Sir Isaac Newton describes his famous experiments with spectroscopy and colors, lenses, and the reflection and diffraction of light. Book I contains his fundamental experiments with the spectrum, Book II deals with the ring phenomena, and Book III covers diffraction. The work concludes with "Queries" -- speculations concerning light and gravitation. Opticks is introduced with a Foreword by Albert Einstein.

About the Author

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1726) was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian. His 1687 monograph, Philosophia Naturalis Principia, lays the foundations for most of classical mechanics.