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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Paper, 'Preliminary note - On the limit of visibility of the different rays of the spectrum' by William De Wiveleslie Abney

Reference number: PP/17/38

Date: 1891

Description

Abney writes: 'In certain photometric experiments it became necessary to find the limit of visibility of the different parts of the spectrum, and also to ascertain what ratio this limit would bear to some fixed luminosity. It should be borne in mind that this question is totally different from acuteness of vision, which some have confounded with it. The two are independent one of the other, and can scarcely be compared.'

Annotations in pencil and ink. Includes one page of graphs of experimental observations.

Subject: Optics / Photometry / Ophthalmology

Received 29 April 1891. Read 14 May 1891.

A version of this paper was published in volume 49 of the Proceedings of the Royal Society as 'On the limit of visibility of the different rays of the spectrum. Preliminary note'.

Reference number
PP/17/38
Earliest possible date
1891
Physical description
Ink and graphite pencil on paper
Page extent
15 pages
Format
Manuscript
Diagram

Creator name

William de Wiveleslie Abney

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Citation

William de Wiveleslie Abney, Paper, 'Preliminary note - On the limit of visibility of the different rays of the spectrum' by William De Wiveleslie Abney, 1891, PP/17/38, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/pp_17_38/paper-preliminary-note-on-the-limit-of-visibility-of-the-different-rays-of-the-spectrum-by-william-de-wiveleslie-abney, accessed on 20 April 2025

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    The archival collection known as 'Proceedings Papers' is comprised of manuscripts and occasional proofs of scientific papers sent to the Royal Society which were read before meetings of Fellows and printed in full in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.

    Dates: 1882 - 1894

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