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Newton's Prism Dispersion Experiments and New Theory of Optics

Type Event Region Europe Time 1666–1672

In 1672, Isaac Newton submitted to the Royal Society an optics paper based on prism experiments, arguing that white light is a composite of many colo…

Timeline

  1. 1666Woolsthorpe · EnglandAt his home in Woolsthorpe, Newton used a prism to decompose sunlight into a continuous spectrum, and with a second prism verified that each color could not be further decomposed, proposing the theory that white light is a composite color formed by the superposition of differently refracted colored lights.
  2. 1672–1676London · EnglandIn 1672 Newton submitted his 'New Theory about Light and Colors' through Royal Society secretary Oldenburg; the paper was published in the Philosophical Transactions, sparking a prolonged scholarly debate with Robert Hooke over the nature of light.

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