Isaac Newton Quotes


Doth not this Æthereal Medium in passing out of Water, Glass, Crystal, and other compact and dense Bodies into empty Spaces, grow denser and denser by degrees, and by that means refract the Rays of Light not in a point, but by bending them gradually in curve Lines? And doth not the gradual condensation of this Medium extend to some distance from the Bodies, and thereby cause the Inflexions of the Rays of Light, which pass by the edges of dense Bodies, at some distance from the Bodies?


Citations

Newton, Isaac. Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light. 4th ed., William Innys, 1730, p. 325.

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Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
  • Born: January 4, 1643
  • Died: March 31, 1727
  • Nationality: English
  • Profession: Mathematician

Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher") who is widely recognised as one of the greatest mathematicians and most influential scientists of all time and as a key figure in the scientific revolution. His book Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), first published in 1687, established classical mechanics. Newton also made seminal contributions to optics, and shares credit with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz for developing the infinitesimal calculus.