Optics
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Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour, manipulation, and detection of electromagnetic radiation, including its interactions with matter and instruments that use or detect it. Opti
The Nimrud lens
Reproduction of a page of Ibn Sahl's manuscript showing his knowledge of the law of refraction
The first treatise about optics by Johannes Kepler, Ad Vitellionem paralipomena quibus astronomiae pars optica traditur (1604), generally recognized as the foundation of modern optics.
Cover of the first edition of Newton's Opticks (1704)
Electromagnetism
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In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge via electromagnetic fields. The electromagnetic force is one of the four fundamental forces of nature.
Optics
…This work led to a theory of diffraction for light and opened an entire area of study in physical optics. Wave optics was successfully unified with electromagnetic theory by James Clerk Maxwell in the 1860s. The next development in optical theory came in 1899 when Max Planck correctly modelled blackbody radiation by…
Electromagnetic interactions are responsible for the glowing filaments in this plasma globe.
Foam peanuts clinging to a cat's fur due to static electricity. The cat's fur becomes charged due to the triboelectric effect. The electric field of the charged fur causes polarization of the molecules of the foam due to electrostatic induction, resulting in a slight attraction of the light plastic pieces to the fur. This effect is also the cause of static cling in clothes.
Cover of A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism