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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Unpublished letter, 'On some new optical phaenomena' from John Herapath to Davies Gilbert

Reference number: AP/14/9

Date: 15 June 1830

Description

Observations made in early 1819 in consequence of a paper that Herapath read by [John] Knox in Philosophical Transactions for 1815 titled 'On some phenomena of colours, exhibited by thin plates'. Herapath sought to determine whether the effect observed by Knox was caused by an interference of light or was due to Isaac Newton's theory of fits of easy reflection and transmission. He found the latter to be the case. Includes four figures on separate pages.

Subject: Optics

Written by Herapath in Cranford [London]. Received by the Royal Society on 17 June [1830].

Reference number
AP/14/9
Earliest possible date
15 June 1830
Physical description
Ink on paper
Page extent
23 pages
Format
Manuscript

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Citation

Unpublished letter, 'On some new optical phaenomena' from John Herapath to Davies Gilbert, 15 June 1830, AP/14/9, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_14_9/unpublished-letter-on-some-new-optical-phaenomena-from-john-herapath-to-davies-gilbert, accessed on 18 September 2024

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  • Archived Papers

    Dates: 1768-1989

    The 'Archived Papers' collection is comprised of original manuscript scientific papers and letters submitted to the Royal Society which remained unpublished or were abstracted in the journal 'Proceedings of the Royal Society' published from 1830 onwards.

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