Mémoire sur la Dispersion de la Lumière

CAUCHY, Augustin-Louis

Published by Prague: J. G. Calve, 1835

First edition of the memoir in which Cauchy explained the dispersion of light from the undulatory theory, and first derived the equation, named after him, relating the refractive index and wavelength of light for a particular transparent material. This memoir was issued as eight parts of his periodical 'Nouveaux Exercices de Mathématiques' (see below). "The dispersion of light when passing through matter without getting fully absorbed, i.e., the variation of the refractive index n (which denotes the ratio of the velocity of light in vacuo to the velocity of light in matter) with the wavelength, always played an important role in the history of optics since the times of Isaac Newton. After the undulatory theory of light won over the corpuscular view in the beginning of the nineteenth century, Augustin-Louis Cauchy proposed an explanation of the dispersion phenomenon, based on the assumption that matter consisted of molecules having finite distances from each other [the offered work]. According to his theory the refractive index n increased with decreasing wavelength of the light - n was approximately proportional to the inverse square of the wavelength - in general agreement with the data on what was later called 'normal' dispersion" (Mehra & Rechenberg, p. 630). In his publication Cauchy nowhere referred for inspiration to Augustin-Jean Fresnel, the originator in France of wave optics. Instead, he wrote that Gustave-Gaspard Coriolis, having read Cauchy's earlier work on the equations of motion that govern a system of material points, suggested that terms which Cauchy had there neglected might account for dispersion. "Cauchy's mathematics for dispersion set a programme of research that was pursued in France, Britain, and Germany during the 1830s and (in Germany and France) into the 1850s. During the 1830s, in fact, optical theory became for a time nearly synonymous with Cauchy's ether dynamics" (Buchwald, p. 461). Cauchy's dispersion formula works reasonably well for normally dispersive bodies and was only replaced towards the end of the 19th century following the discovery of anomalous dispersion by the Danish physicist Christian Christiansen in 1870 and consequent changes in theory by Wolfgang Sellmeier and Hermann von Helmholtz in Germany. The present memoir is a continuation and expansion of his earlier work, of the same title, published in Paris in 1830; the earlier work did not contain Cauchy's dispersion formula. In 1826 Cauchy began to publish his 'Exercises de Mathematiques', which was essentially a mathematical periodical consisting entirely of papers written by himself; it appeared at approximately monthly intervals until 1830. He used similar series as vehicles for his publications at later stages of his career; the 'Nouveaux Exercices de Mathématiques' were published in Prague in 1835-36 and the 'Exercices d'Analyse et de Physique Mathématique' appeared at intervals from 1840 to 1853" (Smithies, p. 113). Buchwald, Optics in the nineteenth century, in The Oxford Handbook of the History of Physics (Buchwald & Fox, eds.), 2013. Mehra & Rechenberg, The Historical Development of Quantum Theory, Vol. 1, Part 2, 1982. Smithies, Cauchy and the Creation of Complex Function Theory, 1997. 4to (259 x 202 mm), pp. [iv, title and foreword of the Nouveaux Exercices], iv [title and foreword of the Mémoire], 236 (a few leaves foxed). Contemporary half-calf over marbled boards, marbled end papers, engraved bookplate to front paste down (rubbed). Seller Inventory # ABE-1631809938368

Bibliographic Details

Title: Mémoire sur la Dispersion de la Lumière
Publisher: Prague: J. G. Calve
Publication Date: 1835
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Edition: 1st Edition