Details
FRAUNHOFER, Joseph (1787-1826). "Neue Modifikation des Lichtes durch gegenseitige Einwirkung und Beugung der Strahlen, und Gesetze derselben". [Offprint from Denkschriften der kniglichen Academie der Wissenschaften zu Mnchen 8 (1821-22). Munich:] Lentner, [1821 or 1822].
4o (233 x 186 mm). 6 folding plates, the first 2 engraved and the last 4 chalk lithographs. (Light foxing to plate 1, slight abrasion along fold, plate 2 a bit creased.) 19th-century cloth-backed boards, G. Rautter of Vienna, binder's blindstamp on front flyleaf (rubbed).
FIRST EDITION, offprint issue, of the first quantitative discussion of light diffraction. This was the first of two important papers published by Fraunhofer in the early 1820s in which he analyzed diffraction phenomena in terms of the wave theory of light. A skilled optician and designer of precision optical instruments, Fraunhofer had accidentally discovered the absorption lines of the solar spectrum in 1814. In the present paper "he discussed his examination of the spectra resulting from [sun]light diffracted through a single narrow slit and quantitatively related the width of the slit to the angles of dispersion of the different orders of spectra. Extending his observations to diffraction resulting from a large number of slits, he constructed a grating with 260 parallel wires" (DSB). Using this apparatus, Fraunhofer made the first quantitative study of the phenomenon. He was able to determine that dispersion of the spectra was inversely related to the distance between the slits in the grating; from the same experiment he succeeded in determining the wavelengths of specific colors of light. Norman 837.
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FIRST EDITION, offprint issue, of the first quantitative discussion of light diffraction. This was the first of two important papers published by Fraunhofer in the early 1820s in which he analyzed diffraction phenomena in terms of the wave theory of light. A skilled optician and designer of precision optical instruments, Fraunhofer had accidentally discovered the absorption lines of the solar spectrum in 1814. In the present paper "he discussed his examination of the spectra resulting from [sun]light diffracted through a single narrow slit and quantitatively related the width of the slit to the angles of dispersion of the different orders of spectra. Extending his observations to diffraction resulting from a large number of slits, he constructed a grating with 260 parallel wires" (DSB). Using this apparatus, Fraunhofer made the first quantitative study of the phenomenon. He was able to determine that dispersion of the spectra was inversely related to the distance between the slits in the grating; from the same experiment he succeeded in determining the wavelengths of specific colors of light. Norman 837.