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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Unpublished paper, 'Dynamical illustrations of the magnetic and the helicoidal rotatory effects of transparent bodies on polarized light' by William Thomson

Reference number: AP/38/28

Date: 1856

Description

Thomson explains that 'the elastic reaction of a homogeneously strained solid has a character essentially devoid of all heliçoidal and of all dipolar asymmetry. Hence the rotation of the plane of polarization of light passing through bodies which either intrinsically possess the heliçoidal property (syrup, oil of turpentine, quartz crystals, etc.), or have the magnetic property induced in them, must be due to elastic reactions dependent on the heterogeneousness of the strain through the space of a wave, or to some heterogeneousness of the luminous motions dependent on a heterogeneousness of parts of the matter of lineal dimensions not infinitely small in comparison with the wave length'.

Annotations in ink throughout.

Subject: Physics / Optics / Calculus

This paper was published in full in volume 8 of the Proceedings of the Royal Society as 'Dynamical illustrations of the magnetic and the heliçoidal rotatory effects of transparent bodies on polarized light'.

Reference number
AP/38/28
Earliest possible date
1856
Physical description
Ink on paper
Page extent
12 pages
Format
Manuscript

Creator name

William Thomson

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Citation

William Thomson, Unpublished paper, 'Dynamical illustrations of the magnetic and the helicoidal rotatory effects of transparent bodies on polarized light' by William Thomson, 1856, AP/38/28, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_38_28/unpublished-paper-dynamical-illustrations-of-the-magnetic-and-the-helicoidal-rotatory-effects-of-transparent-bodies-on-polarized-light-by-william-thomson, accessed on 12 May 2026

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https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_38_28/unpublished-paper-dynamical-illustrations-of-the-magnetic-and-the-helicoidal-rotatory-effects-of-transparent-bodies-on-polarized-light-by-william-thomson

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  • Archived Papers

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is comprised of original manuscript scientific papers and letters submitted to the Royal Society which remained unpublished or were abstracted in the journal 'Proceedings of the Royal Society' published from 1830 onwards.

    Dates: 1768 - 1989

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