Abstract
THE scattering of light by small particles observed by Tyndall was studied exhaustively by Lord Rayleigh, who showed in 1871 that each particle, assuming its dimensions small in comparison with the wave-length, sets up a secondary disturbance which travels in all directions. In 1899, Rayleigh conclude that the blue colour of the sky could be accounted for by the scattering of light by molecules of the atmosphere. In the book under notice, the author seeks to establish a coherent theory of the diffusion of light in the interior of a fluid on the assumption that the incident wave excites in each molecule a movement proportional to the field; these little induced doublets vibrate with the frequency of the exciting wave and in their turn radiate diffused light.
La diffusion moléculaire de la lumiere.
Par Jean Cabannes, avec la collaboration d'Yves Rocard. (Recueil des Conférences-Rapports de Documentation sur la Physique, Vol. 16.) Pp. viii + 326. (Paris: Les Presses Universitaires de France, 1929.) 65 francs.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
La diffusion moléculaire de la lumiere . Nature 125, 740 (1930). https://doi.org/10.1038/125740a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/125740a0