An Account of Diffraction Before Grimaldi (1665) in Maurolico's Problemata ad perspectivam et iridem pertinentia (1567).
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| Title: | An Account of Diffraction Before Grimaldi (1665) in Maurolico's Problemata ad perspectivam et iridem pertinentia (1567). |
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| Authors: | Raynaud, Dominique1 (AUTHOR) dominique.raynaud@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr, Zanier, Sylvie1 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Physics in Perspective. Jun2025, Vol. 27 Issue 2, p89-95. 7p. |
| Subjects: | Optical diffraction, Historical source material, Physical optics, Optics, Scientific discoveries, Wave mechanics, Mathematicians |
| Abstract: | Contrary to the standard account that credits Francesco Maria Grimaldi (1618–1663) with the discovery of diffraction, we show that this optical phenomenon had been described nearly a century earlier in Problemata ad perspectivam et iridem pertinentia by Francesco Maurolico (1494–1575). This text probably served as a source for Grimaldi's Physico-mathesis de lumine, in which Maurolico's observation is reported almost verbatim. We must therefore backdate the discovery of diffraction to 1567 and reassign the roles. We translate the passage, reconstruct the result, and draw the consequences of this discovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Engineering Source |
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| Abstract: | Contrary to the standard account that credits Francesco Maria Grimaldi (1618–1663) with the discovery of diffraction, we show that this optical phenomenon had been described nearly a century earlier in Problemata ad perspectivam et iridem pertinentia by Francesco Maurolico (1494–1575). This text probably served as a source for Grimaldi's Physico-mathesis de lumine, in which Maurolico's observation is reported almost verbatim. We must therefore backdate the discovery of diffraction to 1567 and reassign the roles. We translate the passage, reconstruct the result, and draw the consequences of this discovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 14226944 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00016-025-00327-y |
