Science Common Sense

1467 - What are the main theories of light in history

There were several important theories about light throughout history. Here are the main ones:

  1. Ancient Greece: Corpuscular Theory (around 300 BC) - People like Empedocles believed light was made of tiny particles, like small balls.

  2. Wave Theory (around 1600 AD) - Christiaan Huygens thought light was like a wave, like ripples in a pond. This explained how light can bend around things.

  3. Particle Theory (around 1670 AD) - Isaac Newton believed light was still made of particles, but now called 'corpuscles'. He showed that light can also behave like particles.

  4. Electromagnetic Theory (around 1864 AD) - James Clerk Maxwell discovered that light is a part of something called the electromagnetic spectrum, and that it's made up of oscillating electric and magnetic fields.

  5. Quantum Theory (around 1900 AD) - Albert Einstein showed that light can behave like both particles (called photons) and waves. This was a major breakthrough and changed our understanding of the universe.

Each theory helped build upon the last one, and we now know that light can behave like both waves and particles.

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