J1IIeillll

&NID CCJ (]) J1 (]) lli

by
CLARENCE RAINWATER
Professor of Physics
San Francisco State College
Original Project Editor

HERBERT S. ZIM
Illustrated by

RAYMOND PERLMAN
Professor of Art, University of Illinois

GOLDEN PRESS

NEW YORK

Western Publishing Company, Inc.

Racine, Wisconsin

FOREWORD

This Go lden Guide sin g l es out the phenomena of light and

color and describes the scientific concepts in easily
understood terms. Light and color are intimate ly invo lved
in our lives yet a rea l understanding of their n ature is
rare. This book presents in simpl e terms the complex
physica l, physio logica l, and psychologica l aspects of
light a n d color. To condense this subject into this sm a l l
book req u ired some sacrifice, so many details a n d qua li
fying remarks have been omitted, a n d m uch of the data
has been presented in simp lifi ed form.
We are grateful to the individua l s and organizations
who generously sup plied data and loaned pictures for
our i l l u strations a nd to the author s of the many excel lent
books wh ich were drawn upon for idea s and i n fo rm ation
( B i bl iography o n page 1 5 6 ) . We are gra tefu l a l so to Ja mes
Hath way, Ja mes Ske l ly, and George Fichter for th eir
ed itoria l assistance a nd to Dr . Frederick L. Brown for
his cri tica l review.
Photo CNdits:

MI. Wilson & Palomar Observatories, Copyright b y California Institute of

Carnegie Institute of Washington, 7, 74, 75; Clarence Rainwater, 30,
56, 79, 92, 93, 95, 97, 119, 144; Enid Kotchnig, 31, 146; Ealing Corp., 46; 0. C.
Rudolph & Sons, Inc., 54; Yerkes Observatory, 72; lnstule for International Research, 96;
Florida Development Commission, 99; Roger Behrens, 109; ''The Printing Industry" by
Victor Strauss, 112; American Optical Co., 116; redrawn from Scientific American, 118; from
"An Introduction to Color" by R. M. Evans, 120; Munsell Color Co., 127; Contai ner
Corp. of America, 1 29; painting by Louis M. Condax from "The Science of Color," Optical
Society of America, 132; The United Piece Dye Works, 140; Western Electric, 142 (bot.
left); Edward Diehl, 143; Original Dufaycolor by Blanche Glasgow, American Museum of
Photography, 145; Elizabeth Wilcox (Polaroid), 147 Nati:>nal Gallery of Art, W ashington,
D.C., Chester Dale Collection: detai l from Self Portrait, 1889, by Paul Gauquin. 149:
Perkin-Elmer Corp., 152 (tap); Optics Technology, 152 (bot.).
Technology and

GOLDEN, A GOLDEN GutDE, GoLDEN PREss and GoLDENCRAFT"i

are trademarks of Western Publishing Company, Inc.

Copyright 197 1 by Western Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights of
reproduction and use in any form or by any means, including the making of copies by any photo process,
or by any electronic or mechanical device, printed or written or oral, or recording for sound or visual
reproduction or for use in any knowledge retrieval system or device, unless permission in writing is
obtained from the copyright proprietor. Produced in the U.S.A. by Western Publishing Company, Inc.
Published by Golden Press, New York , N.Y. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 69-11967
ISBN 0-307-63540-6

CONTENTS
NATURE OF LIG.HT AND COLOR

18

Measurement, speed of light, electromag

netic waves, spectra, rod iation
LIGHT SOURCES

Sun, electric lights, glow tubes, mercury

arc, fluorescent lamps, luminescence
ILLUMINATION

Sensitivity

of

eyes,

brightness,

metric units, shadows, lightness

Ll G H T BEHAVI 0 R

Transmission,

reflection,

photo

refraction,

29
36

dis

persion, diffraction, interference, scatter

ing, absorption, fluorescence, phospho
rescence, polarization, double refraction

OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS .

Mirrors,

prisms,

diffraction

lenses,

aberrations,

scopes,

projectors,

58

gratings,

telescopes,
enlargers,

micro

cameras,

photometers, colorimeters

S E E I N G Ll G H T A ND C 0 L 0 R .

84

Eye, sight, depth perception, illusions

THE

NAT U R E 0 F C 0 L 0 R .

98

Hue, brightness, primary colors, comple

mentary hues, additive and subtractive
colors, color matching, color blindness.
COLOR PERCEPTION

Color constancy, contrast, afterimages

118
125

COLOR SYSTEMS

Munsell, Ostwald, CIE

LIGHT AND COLOR AS TOOLS

Harmony and discord, symbolism, paints,

133

pigments, dyes, business and industrial

uses, photography, printing, television,
lasers, fiber optics
MORE INFORMATION
INDEX

156

157

Natural light dispersion-a double ra inbow

NATURE OF LIGHT AND COLOR

We know the wor l d th ro ugh ou r sen ses: s i g ht, h earing,

to uc h , taste, and s m el l . Ea ch sense re spo n d s to pa r
ti cu lar sti m u l i , a nd the se nsations we experience give
us i n fo rmation a bo ut ou r surro u n d i n g s . Sight is the most
importa nt of the sense s . Th ro ug h sight we pe rceive the
shape, size, and co lor of ob jects; a l so the i r distance,
motion s , and re lationsh ips to ea ch other. Light i s the
sti m u l u s for th e sense of sight- th e raw ma te ria l of vi sion.
To u ndersta nd the fa scinati ng sto ry of l ig ht, l et u s
ex plore its natu re , its ma nifestation o f colo r, its behavior
in l e nses and prism s , and th en its uses i n science and
art. This wi l l h e l p i n u nd erstand i ng how th e sen sat ion of
see ing affects o u r action , ou r attitudes, ou r moods, and
ou r dai ly experiences.
CO LOR i s t h e essence o f l ight;
light the essence of li fe . The green
pigment o f pla nts plays an essen
tial role in susta i n i n g a ll li fe . The
colo rs of many an i mals blend
with their s u rroundings, h i di ng
the animals from thei r enemies.
Some, l ik e th i s anole, ca n even
cha nge their c olors a s they move
from one bockgrou nd to a n oth e r .

Man has put l ight a nd color to wo rk i n m any way s .

Physicians detect d i seases b y changes i n t h e c o l o r o f
eyeba l l s, throat, or ski n . The acid i ty o f a so l ution,
the composition of an a l l oy, the tem perature of a fur
nace, and the vel ocity of a distant star ca n be de
termined by a color or a color cha nge . Decora tors
choose restful colors for bed room s , brighter colors
for work area s. In adve rti s i ng , a colo r entice s the
consumer to c ha nge his b ra nd of b reakfa st food . Light
a nd color give m ea ning to everyday contacts betwee n
man and h i s wo rld i n many way s .
L i g h t and color involve phys i ca l , physiolog i ca l , and
psychological facto rs . Physici sts deal with the energies
a nd frequ encies of light waves a nd the i nteraction of
l ight with matter. Physiologi sts study visual processes
and psychologi sts study the effects of visual and color
perception. These th ree g roups of scienti sts developed
different viewpoints and d i fferent voca bularies i n ta l king
about light and color. After tong study, a comm ittee of the
Optica l Society of America reconci l ed the d i fferences and
set up a c lea rly defined and con s i sten t ter m i no logy.

A-,:{

[ t
0
]:1;.J

A prism disperses l ight to

form a spectrum in a lobo- op" =--- ' ,
ratory spectrograph j u s t os
light dispersed by ra in,
drops forms a rainbow.

H I LGER SPE CTR OGR APH

SCIENTIFIC MEASUREMENTS in
volve large and small numbers,
i nterrelated u n its, and great
prec ision. Our everyday u n i ts of
m easurement come from the
E ng l i s h system with its i nche s,
gallons, and pounds and are
convenient to use only be
cause they are fam il iar. The met
ric system is favored by scientists
beca use. the relation s h i p between
units of length , volume, and

weight i s simpler. The syste m ' s

u s e o f decimals a l s o makes for
faster and more accurate computa
tion s . larg e num bers can be
e xpressed concisely.
Metric units of length a re
used i n thi s book . The table
below l ists some common units,
uses, sym bols, c om pa ra tive val
ues in meters and in i nche s ,
a n d common objects of each
u n i t ' s approx i mate size.

UNITS O F LE NGTH

Unit

Symbol

Equivalent in

About the

meters, inches

size of

MET E R
mea sures
rad io wav e s

1 m
3 9. 3 7 inches

A small
boy

CENTI METER
measures
' m ic rowaves

em

. 01 m (10-2 m )
0 . 3 9 37 i n .

A s unflower
seed

MilliMETE R
mea sures
m ic rowaves

mm

.00 1 m ( 1 o-3 m )
.03937 in.

A gra i n of
sand

.000001 m ( 1 0
.0000 3 9 i n .

MI CRON
mea sures
i n frared
MilliM I C RO N
mea sures
l ig h t waves
AN GSTR OM
mea sures u ltra v io let and
l ig ht waves

m)

(.i

A small
bacterium

. 00000000 1 m ( 1 0-9 m )
. 0000000 3 9 i n .

. 000000000 1 m ( 1 0-10 m ) A hydrogen

. 000000003 9 i n .
atom

A be"'e""
molecule

mp.

N u m bers in this book are often

g iven as powers of 1 0 . For ex
ample, 103 is 1 ,000 ( read 103
as ''1 0 to the third power' ' ;

(I

t h e 3 is cal led an e xponent),

and 1 06 is 1 , 000 ,000 . Negative
e xponents a re fractions or dec i
mals; 1 0-3 is 1 11 ,000 or . 00 1.

The Andromeda nebula i s so far away tha t l i gh t from it takes about

two and a ha lf m i l l ion y ea rs to reach the earth . Studies of l ight from
such ce l estial bod i e s give cl u es to the structure of the u n iv erse .

OF LIGHT i n free space ( a vacuum) i s

1 86, 2 8 2 m i l es* p e r second . T h i s seem s to b e th e
natural speed l i m i t i n the 1,mive rse . There i s g ood rea so n
to bel i eve that noth i ng con ever travel foster.
The speed of light in a vacuum i s a con sta nt, a lways
denoted by c i n eq uations, as in E i nstei n ' s en ergy eq ua
tion, E = m c2 No matter what th e source o f l ight,
or how fa st the source and observer ore movi ng with
respect to one a nother, the speed of l ight i n free spa ce
is a lways the some . Thi s r ema rkable fact- i s bel i eved to
be true only of light. Th e s peed of a bul l et, for exampl e ,
d epen ds i n port on t h e speed of the g u n from wh ich it
i s fired and on the speed of the ob server as wel l . The
speed of sound varies with the speed of the measu rer
but not with the speed of the sourc e . The speed of l ight
i s independent of both source a nd m ea surer. It i s a
u niversal constant, one of the m ost i m portant constants
i n a l l of sc ience . The constancy of the speed of light i s
a ba sic postu late of E i nstei n ' s theory of rel a tivity .
THE SPE E D

Approx imotely 3 X 1 01'( meters per second

carry energy in a l l d i rec

tions through the universe. Al l objects receive, a bsorb,
a nd rad iate these waves, wh ich can be pictured as
electric and mag netic fields vi brati ng at right angles to
each othe r a nd a l so to the di rection in wh ich the wave
is t rave l i ng. Light is on e form of e l ectromagnetic wave .
Al l electromagnetit waves tra vel i n space at the same
speed-the speed of lig ht.
Electromagnetic waves show a continuous ra nge of
frequen cies and wa velengths ( pp. 1 0- 1 1 ). Frequ ency i s
the num ber of wa ve crests pass i n g a poi n t i n one s econd.
E lectromagnetic wa ve freq uenc ies run from a bout one per
second to over a tri l l ion-tri l l ion ( 1 024) per second. For
l ight, the freq uencies a re fou r to eight hundred tri l l ion
( 4-8 x 1 014) waves per second. The freq uency times
the wavele ng th gives the speed of the wa ve. The higher
the freq uency the shorter the wave l ength.
ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES

ELECTROMAGNETIC STRUCTURE
OF LIGHT WAVES

magnetic fiel d

E l ectric a n d magnetic fields ar

a lways pe rpendicula r to eac
other and to the d i rection o
motion .

A "SNAPSHOT" OF A GREEN LIGHT WAVE

1 0,000 A

5 ,000 A

WA VELEN GT H is the di stance

from the crest of one wav e to the
crest of the next. The height of
a wave crest is its ampli tude and

1 5 ,000 A

is re lated to the energ y

wav e . T h e wave shown
di ag ra m is a g reen l i g h t
Di stances are i n Ang stroms

of the
i n the
wa ve .
( p. 6 ).

with wave lengths less than

O
1 A, are pen etrati ng radiations that are absorbed ve ry
l i ttle in pa s s i ng through so l id matter . Th e amount of
th e a bsorpti o n d epends upon th e d e n s ity o f the mate
ria l , so these ray s are u seful for maki ng shadowgram s
(X-ray pictu re s ) of th e den ser parts of an ob ject.
GAMMA RAYS AND X-RAYS,

ULTRAVIOLET RAYS are produced i n great quanti ty by

th e sun and by spec ial ty pe s of l am p s . Thoug h not de
tected by the eye, th ey do affect ph otog raph ic fi l m .
Th ey a l so ca use sunta n . Ord i na ry glass do es not tran smit
much u l traviolet so yo u d o not ta n b ehi nd an o rd i na ry
win dow. The wave l e ng th s of u l travi o l et ray s ( 1 0 A to
3,5 00 A) a re longer than th ose of X-ray s bu t shorter than
th ose of l i g ht . A bit longer tha n l i g ht are the wave s of
infra red rad iation wh i c h we sense as h eat.

LIGHT WAVES I N T H E

frequ ency i n
cycles per second

i ndu ction
.
heating

power

1017

1()8

1()4

102

1015

1013

1010
i nfrared
rays

radio
waves

1011

1012

109

107

wavelength i n
Angstrom un its

is that portion of th e e l ectromagnetic

spectru m that norma l l y stimulates t he sense of sight.
Electromagnetic wa ves exh i b i t a continuous range of
frequen cies a nd wa velengths. In the vi s i b l e part of the
spectrum these frequencies a nd wa ve lengths a re what
we see a s colors . The wavelength s of l ight ra nge from
3 , 5 00 A to 7,500 A. The wavelengths of i nf rared
rays ( 7,500 A - 1 0,000,000 A), longer tha n l ig h t rays,
are not detected by the eye, and do not apprec iably
affect ord i na ry photog raphic film. They are a l so ca l l ed
hea t or the rmal rays and give u s the sensa tion of
warmth.
Because all electromagnetic wa ves a re basica l l y
a l i ke, we can expect them t o behave i n a s i m i la r m a n
n e r . Differences are rea l l y b u t a matter o f deg ree a n d
a re due to t h e d ifferen ces in freq uency. Light waves a re
u nique o n l y in thei r visu a l effects . The con cept of color,
for in sta nce, ha s mea ning only i n reference to l i g ht waves.

VISIBLE LIGHT

10

106

ELECTROMAGNET I C SPECT R U M

1Ql4

1Q20

1Ql8

1 Ql6

1Q22

1Q24

LIGHT

yel low
g reen

green

blue-green

THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPE C

TRUM, shown above, covers a l l
known rad iation o f w h i ch l ig h t
is a s m a l l b u t i mportant part.

The expa nded v i s i bl e portion of

the el ectromagnetic s pectrum is
seen as a continuous g radation
i n hue from red through violet.

WAVELENGTH
V I SI BLE
R AYS

OF

The wavelengths ( .,\ )

of v i s i bl e l ight are
as
s ee
what
we
colors. Red has the
l ongest waves, v iolet
the shorte st.

55

00

7000

1 1

,.

;.., .

..

. -?r;
;'ib

4000 A

._;

5 000 A

4 5 00 A

Spec trum of sunl ight s howing

( p. 5) sepa rate s a bea m of l ig ht

into its component wa ve l engths and d i splays th em in a
spectr u m . The spectrum of an i ncandescent l a m p is a
con ti n uous ba nd of colors ra ng i ng from violet through
bl u e, g reen , ye l low, orange, to red . Each color blends
into its neig hbors i n a n un broken ba nd of wa ve l engths .
Sol i d s , liqu ids , and gases at ve ry h i g h pressure g ive
con ti n uous spectra i f they a re made hot e no ug h.
Ga ses at low pres s u re have disc rete spectra consi sting
of colored l i n es or bands with dark spaces between. A
ga s gives a l i ne spectrum if its mo l ecu le con s i sts of a
sing l e a tom, a ba nd spectru m if it consists of more th an
one ato m . The gas can be identified by the pa ttern of
its spe ctral l i n es or bands, a nd its tem pe ra tu re can be
dete rm i ned by the i r relative i n tensities.

A SPECT ROGRAPH

TYPES O F SPECTRA

Conti nuous spectrum o f i n candescent lamp

" "

'

:;-
. :"'
t..., >
.

"

.:

. \:',.

Line spectru m of barium

Band spectrum of carbon a rc in a i r

I'

: ,

!,

i
II

5 5 00 A

- '

'

'

,:".,
,. .

" ..
'"'

t:
. .

6000 A

- "'

6 5 00 A

7000 A

principal F ra u n hofer l ines ( p . 2 1 ) .

If a l i n e o r narrow band of the spectrum i s i solated

by a s l i t or by colored fi l ters, the l ight that comes
through is ca l l ed monochromatic l i g h t . It con s i sts of a
single wa ve l en gth or a very narrow range of wa vel engths
a nd excites in the ob server a sensation o f color, such
a s red, g reen , or b l u e . White l ight, such as s un l i ght, i s
a m ixture o f a l l visible wavel ength s . An object that re
flects a l l wave l engths equa l l y appears white to ou r eye s .
Each l ight source e m i t s a cha racteri stic spectrum
which can be plotted on a g ra ph showi ng how the
re lative energy va ri e s with th e wa ve length. This relation
ship i s ca l l ed th e spectra l energy d i str i bution c u rve for
th e l i g ht source. Most so urces a l so give off invisible
ultravio let a nd i n frared rad iation, so the comp lete spec
tr um usu a l l y i n c l u des mo re th an j ust vi s i b l e l i g ht .
SPECTRAL E N ERGY D ISTR I B U T I O N C U R V ES

2 00
1 60
>-.
Ol

4; 1 2 0

c
w

4)

Qj

80

a::

40
0

4000 A

5000 A

6000 A

Wavelength ( in Angstroms )

7000 A

13

is a m easure of the
ra te of random motion s o f mo l e
c u l e s . Abso l ute zero i s th e tempera
tu re a t wh ich all s uch m otion s a re
at a theoretical mi n i m u m . The Kel
vi n , or a bsol ute, te mperature sca le,
wi dely used in scientific wo rk, sta rts
at absol ute zero. Th e freez ing po i nt
of wa ter i s 273 K, a nd th e bo i l i ng
po int is 373 K. Eq uivalent tem pera
tu res on th e Fa hren he it ( F) a nd
Cel s i u s ( C ) tem pera tu re scales a re
shown at left.
Tempe ra tu re a nd the color of a
hot object a re ofte n c l o sely related.
As a piece of i ro n i s heated it
changes in color from g ra y to red,
to ora ng e, to ye l low, a nd fi n a l l y to
wh ite .
TE MPERATURE

is be ing cont i n u a l l y
ex cha ng ed betwee n every object
and its surro un d i n g s . The amount
and qua l i ty of this radi ati o n d epends upon th e te mpera
tu re a nd material of both th e em itter a nd the ab sorber.
When two objects a re at a bout the same te mperature,
_
l i tt le heat i s transferred between them . Whe n o ne object
i s much hotter tha n th e other, heat fl ows to th e colder
one. This occ u rs wh en you h old o ut you r ha nd a nd fee l
th e warmth of a hot stove. Yo ur ha nd rad iates less
en ergy tha n it recei ves . Th e rate at which an object
em its th i s rad iant energy i s proportional to th e fo urth
powe r of its Kelvin tempe ratu re . Do ubl i ng thi s tempe ra
tu re i ncrea ses the ra te of ra diation 1 6 times.

TEMPERATURE SCALES

14

RADIATION

is a n a b so l utely b l a c k body. It
a bsorbs a l l the ra diation that fa l l s on it. Every light
source is a radiator, but some a re m o r e efficie nt tha n
others . A n o bject that is a good a bsorber of radiation is
a lso a good emitter.
A s m a l l d ee p h o l e o r cavity in a g ra p hite block serves
a s a practica l b l a c k body. Any light that enters the hol e
i s reflected m a ny tim es fro m t h e wa l l s a n d is pa rtly a b
sorbed at e a ch reflection u- n til no light remains. Th us the
hol e a p pe a rs perfectly b l a c k . If the wa l l of t h e cavity
a re heated, however, they give off radiatio n in a l l
directio n s . The ra diatio n -that esca pes fro m the hole is
ca l l ed b l a c k-body radiatio n .
T h e spectra l distribution of radia nt e n e rgy e mitted by
a heated b l a c k body d ep e n d s o n ly on its Kelvi n t e m p er
ature, and not a t a l l o n the materia l of which it is m a d e .
At low te m perature (bel ow 800K) o n ly infra red radia
tio n results. At a bout 6,000K (th e tem p e rature of the
su n's surfa c e), the peak of the spectra l e n e rgy c u rve is
nea r the mid point of the visi b l e spectrum. Both ultra
vio l et and infra red radiation a lso o c c u r .
THE BEST RADIATOR

The standard u n it of l ight

sourc e i ntens ity, the cand le,
i s 1 I 60 of the intensity of
1 cm2 of a black body at
the tempera ture of melting
platinum .

Btack Body
Radiation
EN ERGY DISTR I BUTION

1 0,000 A

O F A BLAC K B O DY

At a g iven tempera ture , there

i s a spec ifi c curve that represents
the energ y distribution of o
black body. At higher tem pera
1 00
tures, the pea k of the curve >E>
occurs at s horter wavelengths. 4)
&5 5 0
4)

may be a ss igned to any l ight

source by m a tc h i ng i t vi s u a l l y aga i nst a b lack-bod y
rad iator . The temperature at wh ich the black bod y
matches t h e c o l o r of a light source i s s a i d to be the
color tem pe ra ture of the sou rce . For incandescent
sources, such as an ordi nary ho usehold l ight bu l b, the
color tem perature is rel a ted simply to the true tem pe ra
ture and i s often a pproxi matel y equ a l to it. An ob server
sees the sta r Antares, with a col or tem pe ra tu re a l most
5 ,000 K, a s red . Sirius, at about 1 1 ,000 K, i s much
hotter a nd appears wh i te . The color tem pe ra tu re of
some l ight so urces, however, ha s nothing whatever to do
with t he actu a l temperature. A ' ' daylight' ' fl uo re scent
tube, for example, may have a ra ted color tem perature
of 6 , 5 00 K a nd yet be so coo l that i t is not un com
fortable to touc h .

COLOR TEMPERATURE

CO LOR-TEM PER ATU RE CLASS I F I CA T I O N OF STARS

COLO R
25

B lue
white

W h ite

Yell ow
wh ite

Y e l lo w

,."""'
i I

'

"'

!} :<.:,=

THR E E STANDARD IZE D LIGHT SOU RC ES, known a s

A, B, a nd C, a r e u sed t o match col o rs . Sou rce A ap
prox imates ordi n ary inca ndescent lam p l i g h t, sou rce B
noon sun l ight, and source C average day l ight. Th e sta n
da rd i n candescent lamp opera tes at a color te mpera
tu re of 2 , 854 K. The othe r two standa rd sou rce s a re
de rived from this same lamp by the use of carefully
specified fil ters . Each source may be considered white in
pa rticula r i n sta nc e s . White l i g ht i s known to be a mix
tu re of a l l colors ( p. 1 3 ) . These sou rce s of white l i g ht
diffe r becau se they are made u p of different amounts
of th e various colors .
THE RELATIVE EN ER GI E S of the
th ree
internationally
accepted
l ight sources are pl otted for the
visible region of the spec trum .

Wavelength

5000 A

The curve for the standard in

cande scent lamp, because of its
tungsten filament, is the same as
that for a black body a t 2 ,8 5 4K.

6000 A

7000 A

200

150

50

17

E FF I C I E NC Y O F SOME

paraffi n
cand le
oil lamp
ca. 600 A . D.
E FF ICIENCY

0 .1 %

0 .1 %

0 .1 %

185 3

0 .1 %

LIGHT SOUR CE S

L ight sources turn other ki nds of energ y into vi s i b l e

radiation . Th e sun u ses nuc lea r energy. To rches, candles,
gas la mps, and other fla mes use chemica l energy. Most
of our modern light sources use electrical energ y. In
the process of making light, most sou rces wa ste much
energ y in the form of heat. F lames a re very i neffi cient,
b ut for many centuries they we re the only contro l l ed
so urces o f light. The i nvention of the Wel sbach mantle,
i n 1 8 6 6 , inc rea sed grea tly the light o utput o f the com
mon ga s lamp. The mantle, a sma l l wh i te wic k l i ke cover
placed over the gas flame, is made of tho r i u m oxide to
which a l i ttle cerium has been added . When h ea ted, i t
emits visible l i g h t b u t n o t i nfra red rad i a ti o n . U n a b l e t o
lose ene rgy by i nfra red emi ssion a s d o most hot ob
jects, its tem pe ra tu re ri ses to a lmost the temperature
of the fla me, a nd the mantle g i ves off a b ri l l ia nt white
l i g ht. If a black body ( the most efficien t rad i a tor) were
pl aced in t he same flame, it wou l d lose so much energ y
by infrared em i ss ion that it wou ld rem a i n re lative l y coo l ,
g ivi ng o ff m uch less light tha n the Wel s ba c h mantl e .
Carbon a rc la mps ( high c u rrent e l ectrica l d i scha rges
between ca rbon e l ectrodes) came i nto use for public
street lighting a bout 1 8 7 9 . Carbon arcs today a re used
in powerfu l sea rc h l ights a nd commercia l m ovie projector s .
I n 1 8 79 , Thomas Edi son invented t h e i n ca ndescent
fi lament la mp which, in m uch i mproved form, i s sti l l our
18

H I STOR I C LIGHT SO URCES

open

i ncande scent
filament l amp
1 8 79
0.2%

1 . 0 - 2 .0%

2 .0 - 5 . 0 %

Coope r-Hewitt
m ercu ry a rc 1 90 1
1 . 5 -4 . 0 %

most com mon source for home l i g ht i ng . The g low tube

fi rst appeared i n 1 8 5 0 a s a la bora tory device for the
study of e l ectric d i scharges, but it has since become
more fa m i l i a r i n the commercial "neon " s ig n . Th e
Cooper-Hewitt ercury arc of 1 9 0 1 , a nother tu be u s i ng
electric d i scha rges, wa s on e of the a ncestors of m odern
fl uo rescent l a m p s .
L i g h t from a n i ncandescent lamp i s m o r e concentrated
tha n that from a fluorescent l a mp a nd seem s brig hter,
but it is only about one-thi rd a s effi cient. A carbon a rc
i s l ess efficient and less conven ient tha n either, but
provides a hotter po i nt source and is far brighter.

li ght from a We lsbach mantle

appears more l ike daylight than
el ectric i ll u minatio n . But e lectr ic
lights a re cheaper , last longer,
and are easier to u se .

photosphere

SUN

ou r major l ight sou rce , gets its energy from

nuclear processes i n its hot i nterior, whi c h is est ima ted
to have a tem pera tu re of about 1 3 m i l l i o n deg rees K.
The sun i s a b a l l of g l owing gases that diffe r from
tho se fou nd on ea rth because of the su n ' s extre m e l y
high pressu re s a nd tem peratures . T h e a tom s o f the sun ' s
gases a re h i g h l y ionized; that is, ma ny of the e l ectrons
which no rm a l l y sur ro und the nuclei of the atom s have
been stri pped away, l eaving the a toms. e l ectrica l l y
cha rged. The se ioni zed gases at h igh pressu re e m i t a
continuous spectru m i nstead of a l i ne spedru m . Th e
waveleng th a t wh ich we receive the m ost energ y from
'
the sun ( the peak of its energ y d i str i bution c u rve)- is
a bout 5 , 400 A. Thi s l ies in the g reen pa rt of the spec
trum, c lose to the wavelength at wh i c h the h u m a n eye
has its g rea test sensitivity.
THE SUN,

20

SCATTER ING O F SUN LIGHT by

the atmosphere i s m uch greater
fo r short ( b lu e ) waves than for
long (red ) on e s . When the s u n
is overhead, the atmospheric pa th
is re lati ve l y short, and the sun
appe a rs b right yellow, while

the scattered l i gh t is blue (p. 50).

At sun set, the s u n l ight loses more
blue ra ys by scatteri ng in its
l onger path through the a tmo
s'phere, and the s u n a ppears red .
The reflection of th is red light
from clouds makes the sky pink.

The photosphere , the o uter su rface of t he s u n ' s cen

tra l core, i s the su n ' s major source of l ight. Tem perature
of the photosphere ( m ea sured by a n optica l technique
ca l l ed rad i a tion pyrometry} averages about 5 ,750 K.
S u rrou nd i ng the photosphere i s the chromosphere,
composed of cool e r ga ses tha t absorb some of the
photosph ere ' s rad ia tio n . Th i s causes da rk l i nes, ca l l ed
Fra u nh ofer l i n es ( pp . 1 2- 1 3 }, i n th e continuous spec
tr um of th e sun . From m ea s uremen ts of these l i nes,
gases o f the chromosphere can be ide ntified.
21

the most fam i l i a r man-made

light sources, con s i st of a coi led fi l ament of tung sten
wire sealed in a glass bu l b fil led with a m i xture of
a rgon and n i trog en gases. Pas s i ng a n el ectr i c c u rrent
th rough the fi l a ment heats it to a tem perature of
a bout 2, 900 K. Th e i n ert gases surround i11g the fi l a
m e n t preven t it from b u r n i n g u p and pro l on g i ts l i fe by
retarding its eva poration .
Th e en ergy d i stri b ut ion of the l ig ht from a n i n can
descent lamp d epen ds on the fi lament tem perature, so
the light ten d s to be redder than s u n l ight ( 5 , 75 0 K) .
I n fact, most of the rad ia tion from a tungsten lamp l ies
in the i n frared pa rt of the spectrum . Over 9 5 per
cent of the energ y is radia ted as heat and less than 5
per cent a s light. I n spite of th i s wa sted heat en ergy,
th e m od ern l i g ht b u l b i s nearly 1 0 t i m e s as efficient
as the first commercia l carbo n fi lament la mps . Th e early
clea r-gla s s b u l b s have been rep laced with b u l b s of
frosted or tra n s l uce nt g lass, ofte n ti n ted. These newer
bu l bs provide p l ea santer i l l u m i n ation by diffu s i ng the
l ig h t a nd softe n i n g s h ad ows.

INCANDESCENT LAMPS,

Spectral energy distribution o f radiation from tu ng sten l a m p at 3,000

K e lv in. N ote how li ttle en ergy is in the vi s u a l rang e .

>..
0>

Qj

c
w

c
.!2

"'0
0
c.::

120

80

40
0

22

Wavelength

10,000 A

20,000 A

30,000 A

Over two and a half bil lion i n

ca ndesce nt lamps a re consumed
in the U n ited S tates every year .
Most of these are of the simple
filament lamp type and range
in s i ze fro m a tiny surg ical
lamp 1 / 3 i n . long to a mam moth

demonstration bu l b 2 0 i n . ( 5 1
em ) by 4 2 i n . ( 1 0 7 em ) . Although
some 2 0 , 000 lamp types are
actual ly prod u ced, mos t l arge
fi l ament l amps are l i k e the one
shown below.
filament

l am p
base

'

I I

I
I

I
,

'

1 '
:

'

' ' ''

:.

' I

I'

II
: ,l1
I

I
'

'

1'1

'

'Iii I:

high voltage
t ransformer

A neon sign and electrical connections

have many uses i n scientific laboratori es

but a re best k nown as commerc ia l n eo n signs. These
thin tubes h ave m etal e l ectrodes sealed i nto eac h end .
The a i r i s pumped out of the tube wh ich i s then fi l l ed
with neon or a nothe r gas a t low pressure.
Whe n a high voltage ( 1 ,000- 1 5 ,000 volts) i s appl i ed
to the e l ectrodes, stray e l ectrons i n the tube a re ac
celerated to high speed s . These col l i d e with the gas
atoms, knoc k i n g out other electrons , which i n turn
stri ke more ato m s . Thi s cascading of e l ectrons ( shown
at right) becomes th e electric cu rrent th at Aows th rough
the tllbe . The fast-moving e l ec tron s tra nsfer energy
when they col l id e with n eutral gas atom s . The col l i sion
may ionize the a tom by knock i ng out one of its elec
trons ( 1 ) , or excite the a tom by movi n g a n e l ectron to
a pos i tion of higher en ergy in the atom ( 2 ) . Energy i s
emitted a s a l ight photon when the atom retu r n s to its
norma l sta te ( 3 ) . When a free electron is captu red by a n
ionized atom ( 4 ) it g ives u p i t s energy a s a photo n . Pho
ton s a re u n i ts o f l ig ht energy that act l i ke pa rticles. The

GLOW TUBES

24

,.

Ill

Ch a ra cteristic line spectru m of neon gas

energy of eac h ph oton depends on its frequency. The

freq uency of the emitted photon i s p roportional to the en
e rgy lost by the electron i n fa l l ing to a l ower energy
state or th e energy g ive n up by the e l ectro n captu red
by the ion i zed ato m .
.
Each kind of a tom when excited gives off l ight at
frequencies d eterm i ned by i ts structu re . Some gases
emit l ight only at a few wave l engths . The spectrum of
sod ium, fo r example , shows two bright yel l ow l i nes
very close together, a nd a sod i um va por lamp g i ve s out
a yel low light s i nc e the b rig htest l i nes i n the spectru m
determine the color of the l ight from the g low tu be .
S od i u m vapor l amps a re u sed i n stree t l i g hting . N eon
tubes g l ow an orange-red . Tu bes fi l led with krypton give
a pale blue l i g ht . Other gases or m ixtures of gases
a re ofte n u sed , someti mes in ti nted or fl uorescent g lass
tubes which modify the color of the l ight.
CASCADE

R EACTION

nitrogen-filled

bulb

This high -pre ssure lamp con tains an arc tu be within a nitrog en-fil led

!;>u l b .

i s very much l i ke a g l ow tube, but

uses higher c urrent so tha t th e el ectrod e operates at a
red heat . If the pres sure of the merc ury va po r i n the
tu be is h i g h (from 1 I 1 00 atmosph ere to several h undred
atmosph eres ) , the arc wi l l g ive off a n i n tense bl u i sh
wh i te l ig h t as wel l as some ultravi o l et . If th e pressu re
i s low (from about 1 I 1 00,000 to 1 I 1 ,000 of a tmo
sph eric pressure), most of th e ra diation w i l l be in the
ultravio let . Sun lamps a re u s ua l l y low-pres s u re merc u ry
arcs en c l osed i n bu l bs of fused quartz . H i g h-pressure
lamps a re frequently u sed fo r street l i g h t i n g o r fo r ma k
ing bl u epri n ts .

THE MERCURY ARC

FLUORESCENT LAMPS u s e a low-pres s u re merc u ry arc

within a g lass tube coated on the i nside with a phos
phor such a s c a l c i um tung sta te . Pho sphors have the
abil ity to absorb u ltraviolet rays and to re-rad iate the
energy a s light. The spectrum emitted by a fl uorescent
tube depends l a rgely on the mixture of fluorescent chemi
cals u sed i n the phosphor coati ng. A ca refu l selection of
phosphors wi l l produce rad iation with broad ba nds in
th e visible reg ion of the spectru m , and ve ry l i ttle in the
u l t ravio let o r i n frared . Proper phosphors can approx i mate
th e color of sun l ight without h i gh te mperatures .

26

A F LUORESCE N T TUBE
(cross section) glows when ultra
violet

rays

excite

the

electrons

of the phosphor coating. As these

excited
lower
emitted.

electrons
energy
The

drop

levels,
color

of

back

to

light

is

the

light

depends on the structure of the

phosphor.
ultraviolet light

visible light

RA PI D -START

fluorescent

lamp , combining light from phos

cuits are

efficient.

phor and

last

THE SPECTRUM

of a fluorescent

that of sun I ight.

mercury,

approximates

in

more
the

circuit

cir

A bal

eliminates

flicker.

fluorescent coating

:.1;l;'>: '

-----lf'..

SPECT R AL EN ERGY
CURVE
Compare the sp ectral energy
curve of a 40-watt "daylight"

100

iJ; 80

Qi

60

fluorescent lam p with those of g;' 40

the average daylight curve ''
and of a tungsten l amp curve

( 22) .

20

0
Wavelength

4000A

6000A

27

o r the e m i s s ion o f l ig ht, may b e due to

causes other than heat ( thermolum i nescenc e ) .

LUMINESCENCE,

C H EM I L U M I N ESCEN CE i s the
emission of light during a chemi
cal reaction. When a formalde
hyde solution is m ixed into an
alkaline alcohol solution, chemi
cal energy i s changed into light,
cau s i n g the mixture to g low.
BIOLUM I N ESCEN CE is the pro
duction of l i gh t by che m i l u m i n es
ce nce i n l iv ing organ i sms, as in
ce rtai n fu n g i, bacteria, comb j e l l y
fish ( left), fireflies, and fishes. T h e
Ra ilroad W o r m , a beetle larva ,
is biolum inescent in two co lors.
FLUORESCENCE i s the produc
tion of light when a s ubstance is
exposed to u l trav iolet or oth er
rad iation ( inc luding beams o f
e lectron s o r o t h e r partic les ) . Most
cases o f fluorescence are real ly
examples of phosphorescence.
PHOSPHORESCENCE is delayed
fluorescence. The light emission
continues for a time after the
exciting radiation stops. T ele
v i s ion tubes h ave a phosphores
cent coating and thus produce
pictures without a pparent flicker.
E LECTROLU M I N ESCENCE offers
a new sou rce of diffuse i l lumina
tion for lighting. Alternating c u r
rent appl ied to thin conducting
pan e l s excite s l u m inescent mate
rial sa ndwiched betwee n the m ,
producing a soft, easily regu lated
g low.

28

ILLUMINATION
I l l u m i nation i s often u sed as a general te rm that refers
to the quantity and q ua l ity of l ight. The i l l u m i nation of a
scene may be bright or d i m , harsh or soft, and perhaps
even cold or wa rm . These terms refer loose ly to the
amount, contrast, and hue ( color} of the l ig h t. In a nar
rower sense, i l l um i nance i s the amount of l i ght received
on a specified s u rface area .
The range of sensitivity of your eyes to light i s so
g reat that you are able to see c l ea r l y u nder widely
different cond itions of i l l um inatio n . The ratio o f the
i l l u m i nance at noonday to that on a moon l e s s night
may be as great as ten m i l l ion to o n e . O n a c l ea r day
there may be 2 0 times as much i l l u m i nation on the sunny
side of a bu i ld i ng a s o n the shaded s i d e . Modern i ndoor
l ighting for houses cal l s for i l l u m ination that i s a bout one
fifth that fou nd on the shaded s ide of a b u i l d i n g on a
clear day. Th i s i s 2 0 times more i l l u m i nation than was
once cons idered adequate fo r homes . I m proved i l l u m ina
tion g reatly inc reases the ease with which reading o r
fine work c a n be done.
The human eye can not d i stinguish the component wave
length s of a l i g h t bea m , nor can it d etect s m a l l cha nges
i n s pectra l d i stributio n . Neither i s the eye equa l l y sen s i
tive to a l l wave l ength s . Meas u rements made w i t h many
people have prod uced a standard l u m i n o s ity c urve (p. 3 0 }
that represents t h e relative sensitivity of the average
eye to different wave lengths of light.
Rad iant energy, i n c l uding l i g ht, i s a physical quanti ty
that can be measu red d i rectly by severa l types of rad ia
tion detectors, such as thermopiles, bolometers, and
wave meters. Visible l ight can be measu red by a pho
tometer or a l i g h t meter.
29

;;;
0
.s:
E

:::>
...J

0.8
0.6

Q)
>

0.4

0::

0.2

Qj

'"6

-
..,

0
S

""

'b

?'

,o
..

Wavelength

0
4000 A

5000 A

LU M I NOSITY i s th e abil ity of l ig h t

to exc ite th e sen sation of brig ht
ne ss ( p . 32) . Th e standard l u m i -

6000 A

7000 A

nos ity curve peaks at 5 , 5 5 0 A,

indicating th at our eyes are most
sens itive to yel low-g reen l igh t .
VAR I AT I O N S I N

Outd oo r fi l m , outdoor l igh t

AR T I FICI AL LI G H T i ndoor s i s very

diff e rent from outdoor l ig ht, yet
you rarely notice th a t y o u r green
sweater i s of a somewh a t diff er
ent color as you come indoo rs .
Just a s your eyes adapt to ch ang e s
in ligh t intensity, so th ey adapt
to ch anges in l ig h t qual ity. Color
ph otog ra ph s sh ow the difference
because, u n l ike your eyes , th e fi lm
ca nnot adapt its sen s itiv ity to
th e ch a nged i ll umi nation . F i l m
des i gned for indoor use with in
ca ndescent lamps produces a very
blu ish or cold picture if used
outdoors. Film des i gned for out
door use res u lts in a very orang e
or wa rm picture wh en used with
artificial light i n door s .

Outd oo r fi l m , indoor ligh t

I ndoor film, ou tdoor l igh t

30

I nd oo r fi l m , indoor ligh t

Dawn

Midmorning

I L LU M I NAT I O N
DAYLIGHT cha nges color co n
stantly from s u n rise t o s u n set. A
co lor photog ra ph taken i n early
mo rn i ng or in late afternoon wi ll
have m uch warmer color s than
one ta ken when the sun i s over
head . Col or fi lm p roperly record s
the diff erences in the co lo r of
daylight, but human v i s i on sim
ply compe n s ates for t h e diff er
ence s . You not ice only extreme
cha ng e s in the color of daylig h t,
as at sunrise or s u n set.

M idafternoon

L ate a fternoon

i s a purely psychological concept. It i s

a sensation of the observer a n d cannot b e measured
by i n struments . The a b i l i ty of the eye to j udge absol ute
va l u es of brig htness i s very poor due to its g reat powers
of adaptation . The eye i s a very sensitive detector of
brightness d i fferences, however, provided the two fields
of view a re presented s i m u l taneously. The measurement
of l ight by vi s u a l compari son i s the bas is of the science
of photometry.
Lig ht-source i n tens ity depends o n the tota l amount
of l ight e m i tted and on the s ma l l ness of the con i ca l
sol id ang l e i n wh ich i t i s emitted . Sta ted s i m p l y, i t is
the amount of l ight emitted in a g iven d i rection .
Brightness is a ssociated with the amount o f the l ight
stim u l u s . It is the visual sensation corresponding to the
perc eption of l uminance. L u m i na nce, the intens ity of
l ight-sou rce per u ni t a rea, is a psychophysic a l property
and can be m ea s u red. Lum inance a nd l ig ht- source in
tens ity, often confu sed , are best de scribed by examples.
BRIGHTNESS

T H E T W O LUM I N OUS SPHERES

of d ifferent size ( be low left) have
ide ntical light bulbs. They are
diffuse emitters and so wil l ap
pea r as luminous discs fro m any
viewpoint. Both e m it th e sam e
tota l a mount of light, and both
hav e the same intensity . But the
sma ller one wi ll appea r b righter
to the ob server and wil l have
the h igher l uminance.

In order for the two spheres to

have the same luminance the
larger sphere would require a
larger ( more intense) light sou rce
( below right). It wou ld then emit
the same amount of light per
unit area of s urface as does the
smaller sphere. The two spheres
would then appear equally bright,
but the larger one would have the
g reater i n te n s ity.

T H E R ELAT I O N S H I P OF I N
TEN S I T Y to con i ca l ang l e i s
shown by co mparing a spot l ig ht
and a floodl ig ht with identical
light bulbs in reflectors of the same
di ameter but dissim ilar shape
(abov e ) . The spotlig h t bea m is
concentrated into a smal l cone
with rays almost pora l l el . The
flood light, which e m its the same
am ou nt of ligh t, s pread s it into
a la rg e cone. The spotlight pro
vides a m uch g reater i ll uminance
but over a m uch smal ler a rea
than the fl oodl ig h t .

I f w e look directly into the

bea m of the light sou rce, the
s potlig ht a ppears to be muc h
brig h ter than the floodl ig ht . I n
that d i rection on l y , the inten s i ty
and the l u m i n ance of the spot
light are g reate r than those of the
flood light. If we l ook at the l ig h t
source from other di rec tio ns out
sid e the bea m, the inte n s i ty and
lumina nce of the spot l ig h t are
much less, because so much l ig ht
is concentrated i n to th e beam
that there is l ittle l eft to go in
the se other directio n s .

are u sed i n the quantitative mea

s u rement of i l l u m i nation. A few of th e more i m po rtant
ones are g iven below for reference.

PHOTOMET RIC UNITS

LUM I NOUS FLUX i s the quan

tity of light. I t i s mea sured i n
lumens. I nten sity is luminous
flux per u n i t solid ang le. It
is measured in ca ndl e s . ( 1
ca ndle
1 lumen pe r u n i t
sol id ang le . ) I l l u m inance i s
inc ident fl ux p e r u n it a rea .
It i s mea sured in lux. ( 1 lux
1 l u men per m eter2 . ) l u m i
nance is intensity p e r u n i t
area. It is m easu red in ca n
dl es per meter2

'

po i nt l ig h t
.
un1 t
ource

1
eng I e
I'd

''tJ.rr e,
/tJ

;":

+-

1 m

f ------

1m

area

m2

point
l ight

L ig ht th at i l l u minates a
one-square-meter sur
face at one meter wi l l
cover four square me
ters at two meters and
spreads
over
nine
square meters at th ree
meters .

ra diates its energy u n i formly

so th at l ig ht rays spread out from it i n a l l d i rectio ns.
I l l u m i nation at a poi n t on a surface va ries w i th th e in
te nsity and shape of th e l ig ht source and th e d i sta nce
of th e su rface from i t . The amou nt of l i g ht fa l l ing on a
u n i t a rea (the i l l u m inance) d ecrea ses with th e square of
th e d i sta nce (the i nverse square law ) .
A POI NT LIGHT SOURCE

SHADOWS a r e formed when l i g ht cannot pa ss through

an opaq ue body i n its path . I l l u m ination of the area
beh ind the body i s cut off. A sma l l ( p inpoint) or dis
ta nt source of l ight casts a sharp shadow. A near, large,
or diffuse l ight sou rce produ ces a fuzzy shadow with a
centra l dark a rea that receives no l i g h t ( umbra) and
a l i ght outer area ( penumbra ) which receives some l ight
from part of the source.

- - - ---------''

point
source

\II I -

:--;ii.:;::
d iffuse
source

34

hand

------

--

--

i s a term u sed by an observer to d i stin

guish between l ightness and darkness of colored ob
jects, a s between l ight blue and dark blue pa i nt. It
should not be confused with brightness (p. 32 ) . The
observer's perception of l ightness is a l so a recogn i tion
of a d i fference i n whiteness or g rayness between objects .
I t i s a com pa rative term referring to the amount of
d iffusely reflected l ight coming to the observer's eye
from a surfa c e . The surface wi l l a ppea r white if it i s
a good non-sel ective diffu se reflecto r a n d i s wel l i l l u m i na ted
by white l ight. I f it i s a poor reflector or i f it receives
l ittle or no i l l u m i nation, the su rface wi l l appear g ray,
g rayer, or even black. B lack, then, i s the perception of
an area from which the l ight i s i n s ufficient for deta i l ed
vision . Wh ite i s the perception of a wel l - i l l u m i nated
su rface whose reflectance i s high and non-sel ective .
Gray i s the perception of a surface between these
extremes .

LIGHTNESS

THE PE RCEPT I O N OF GRAYN ESS

is influenced by, among othe r
thing s, t h e illumination of the
su rrou nd ing area. The gray area s
at the bottom of the page are iden
tical , but the one surrounded by

black appears to be much lighter

than the one s u rrounded by white.
Because o f the amount of light
refl ected , the three areas be
low a re seen as blac k , gray ,
and wh ite .

fa

absorbe nd
scaUAre '1
lirJh' I ,."J
I
/

.,..,...,

These are the ways in

which a light beam may
behave. Not shown is
polarization of light.

GLASS

LIGHT BE HAVIOR

light behavior i nc l udes tran s m i ssion, a bsorption, reflec

tion, refraction, scattering, d i ffraction, interference and
polarization, a l l of which are d i scu ssed in th is section .
Transmission, a bsorption and reflection account for a l l
t h e l i ght energy when l ight strikes a n o b j ect. I n the
course of tra n s m iss ion, l ight may be scattered , refracted
or po larized . It can a l so be pola ri zed by reflecti o n . The
l ight that i s not transmitted or reflected i s a bsorbed and
its energy contri butes to the heat energy of the mole
c u l es of the absorbing materi a l . The modi fication of
l ight through these processes i s respo n s i b l e for a l l that
we see.
W h e n a bea m of l ight strik es a
thick sheet of g lass, part of
the light may be r eflected, part
abs orbed and scattered, and
the remainder transmitted.

36

GA LILEO attem pted to mea sure

th e s peed of l igh t but fai led . Ma n
at B wa s to sh ow h is l i gh t wh en
he saw l igh t from A. Man at A
was to record elap sed ti me from
fla sh of A' s l igh t to receipt of B ' s

l i gh t . Th i s simple ti me and dis

tance meth od fai led beca u se th e
ro und tri p travel time of on l y
. 0000 1 1 ( 1 1 X 1 0 -6 ) sec. fo r a
1 -mi le separation was l es s th an
h uma n rea ction time (0.4 sec . ) .

s o fast tha t for many yea rs scie ntists

th ought that its speed wa s i nfin ite . The fi rst observa tions
and mea s u rements wh ich gave a fi nite value to the s peed
of l i g ht were made by the Da nish a stron omer O l af Roemer
in 1 6 75 . Roemer was measuring the pe riod of revo l u tion
of one of Jupite r's sate l l ites by timi n g its successive
ec l i p ses be hind the pla net. H e fo und th at the m ea s ure
ments made while th e earth was reced i n g from J u piter
ga ve longe r period s th an th ose made wh i le the earth
wa s a pp roach ing J u piter . Roemer conc l u ded th at the
difference wa s due to th e fa ct that in the reced i ng posi
tion th e light from each succe ssive e c l i pse had to trave l
a greate r di stance to reac h th e ea rth a nd therefo re took
a longer ti m e ( d iagram , p. 3 8 ) . He ca l c u l a ted th at l ight
took about 2 2 m inutes to travel a distance equal to the
dia mete r of the earth's orbit a bout the s u n . Roemer's
meth od was correct but h i s accu racy wa s poo r . We now
kn ow th at th e time requ i red i s n ea rly 1 6 . 6 7 m i n utes ,
or a bo ut 1 ,000 seconds. Since th e dia mete r of the
ea rth's orbit is a bo ut 1 8 6 , 000,000 m i l e s , th e s pe ed of
l ight is ca lculated to be a bout 1 8 6,000 m i les pe r secon d .
LIGHT TRAVELS

37

R OEMER'S METHOD
\

I
I
I
I

Ea rth
--

--

--

--

sate l l ite

--

Eclipse of J upite r ' s satel l ite was about

1 6 m i n utes late d u e to the added
distance (diameter of earth ' s orbit) .

of th e speed of l ight a re
made in th e laboratory. U s ing many diffe rent tech niques
and much e laborate a pparatus/ scienti sts h ave m ea sured
th e speed of l ight i n free space agai n and agai n , always
striving for m ore acc u racy. The va l ue n ow a ccepted is
2 9 9 , 7 9 3 kilometers, o r 1 8 6, 2 8 2 m i les, pe r seco nd . The
error IS bel ieved to be less th an o ne thousa nd th of
one per cent. The p recise m ea surem ent of th e speed
of l i g ht, a fundamental con sta nt, i s one of th e g reat
technical achievements of ou r time .
MOD ERN MEASUREMENTS

MICHElSO N ' S
METHOD

l ight

octagonal

Miche lson, in 1 8 7 8 , reflected light

from a rapidly rotating mi rror to
a fixed distant m irror. By the
time the reflected l ight retu rned,
the rota ting m irror had moved
enou gh so light was reflec ted at
a d iff erent ang le, ena bl ing its
speed to be ca l cu la ted .

38

i s of two kinds -diffuse and reg u l a r . Diffuse

reflection i s the kind by which we ord i na ri l y see objects .
It g ives us i n formation about their shape, size, color and
texture . Regu l a,r reflection i s m i rrorl i ke . We don't see
the su rface of the m i rror; i nstead, we see objects that
are reflected in it. When l ight strikes a m i rror at an
angle, it is reflected at the same angle. In d i ffuse reflec
tion, l ight l eaves at many d i fferent angles. The deg ree of
su rface roughness determines the proportion of d i ffuse
and reg ular reflection that occurs. Reflection from a
smooth, po l i shed su rface l i ke a m i rror i s mostly regu lar,
wh i l e d iffuse reflection takes place at s u rfaces that are
rough compared with the wavel ength of l ight. S i nce the
wavelength of l ight is very sma l l ( about 5 ,000 A) , most
reflection is diffuse.
R E FLECTION

V I EW ED M I CROSCOPICALLY, a l l
reflecti on is regu lar . The a ppear
ance of d iffuse refl ection is due
to the ma ny different angles that
light rays encounter when they
stri ke a rough surface . The re
flection of each single ra y is
reg ular- that is, i t is reflected at
the same angle at which it

strikes the su rface. A fa irly smooth

surface, such as that of a glossy
vinyl raincoat, shows both d iffuse
and regular reflection, the relative
proportions depending on the angle
of the incident light. But a rough
su rface, such as that of a tweed
coat, shows only diffuse reflec
tion . I t has no " shiny" surface .

REGULAR
REFLECTION

smooth surface

DIFFUSE
REFLECTION

rough surface

39

with the type of mater i a l . Po l i shed

metal reflects most of th e light that fa l l s on it, absor bs
on ly a l ittle, a nd tran smits practica l l y no n e . Pa per is
made up of partly tra nsparent fibers. Light striking paper
may penetra te severa l fibers, being parfly reflected at
ea c h s urface. The l ight th at finally reaches your eyes
and lets you kn ow yo u a re looki ng a t paper ha s be en
reflected a nd transm itted many ti mes. Al l th e re st of the
l ight ha s been ab sorbed a nd added to the heat en ergy
of th e molecules of th e paper .
Most materi a l s a re q u i te selective i n the way they
absorb and reflect the different wavelengths of l ight.
A purple dye w i l l transmit blue and red l ight but wi l l
absorb g reen l ight. Gold and copper meta l s reflect red
and yel low wavelengths more strongly than blue. Si lver
reflects a l l colors and therefore appears a l most wh ite .
Meta l l ic reflection i s a n example o f pure s u rface color.
Nearly all " o bject colors " are due to selective reflection
and a bsorption of l ight. Obj ect colors are a n attri bute
of the object, though the color seen at any time depends
also o n th e color of the i l l u m i n ation . Tota l a bsorption
of l ight m akes an object look black.
REFLECT ION VA RIES

incident rays
woven material

reflection
revea ls the
co lor and textu re of woven cloth .
What we norma lly consider a s
reflection i nvolves sel ecti ve ab
sorption, selective reflection and
refra c tion of light that pa rtia lly
40 penetrates the surfa ce .

-----------------

4) 1
V I

;::;
.!:

.,

'\

I
. .0
I E
I g

.,

7:

-----------------

.._

....,"'

.....
0

angle of
incidence
r

angle of
reflection
Reflecting

Surface

LAWS OF REFLECT I O N

1 . Ang l e of reflection equ a l s angle o f i n c idence.

2 . I ncident a n d reflected rays l ie i n the same p l a n e .

3 . I n c i d e n t and reflected rays are o n opposite s ides of

the normal -a line perpend i c u l a r to the reflecti ng

surface a n d pa ssing through the point of i n c idence .

A PLA N E M I R RO R re
ve rses a scene from
left to rig h t. O bj e cts
held i n the left hand
of a su bject a ppear to
be in the rig h t hand
of the imag e . Al l ob
jects seen in the mir
ror a ppear to be as fo r
be h ind the su rface
they actual ly
front of it.

A.

air

wavele ngth

air

glass

speed
frequency x wavelength
speed in air
wavelength in air
refractive index
of glass
speed in glass wavelength in glass
=

is th e bendi ng of a l ight ray wh en it

c rosses the bo undary between two d ifferen t mate ria l s ,
a s from a i r i n to water . Th i s change in d i rection i s d u e
t o a cha nge i n speed . L i g h t trave l s fastest i n em pty
space and s lows down upon entering matter. Its s peed
in a i r is al most th e same as its s peed in s pace, but it
trave l s o n l y 3/.1 as fa st in wate r a nd o n l y 2/J as fa st i n
g lass. The refractive i nd ex o f a substa nce i s the ratio
of th e speed of l ight i n space (or i n a i r ) to its speed in
the substa nc e . Th i s ratio i s a l ways g reater than one.
When a bea m of l ight enters a pane of g lass perpen
d icular to the surface ( a bove ), i t s l ows down , and its
wavelength in the g l a s s beco mes shorte r in the same
p ro portion . The frequency rema i n s the same. Coming
out of the g l a ss, the l ight speeds u p agai n , the wave
length retu rn i ng to its former s ize.
When a l i g ht ray strikes the g lass a t some other
a ng le, it cha nges d i rection as wel l as speed . I nside
the g lass, th e ray bends toward the perpend i c u l a r or
norma l . I f the two sides of the g l a s s are para l l e l , the
l ight wi l l return to i ts orig inal d i rection when it l eaves
the glass, even tho ugh it has been d i splaced in its
passage . I f the two s ides of the g lass are not paral l e l ,
a s i n t h e c a s e of a p r i s m or a l e n s , t h e r a y emerg es
i n a new d i r.ection .
R E FRACTI ON

42

surfaces not para llel

surfaces parallel

LAWS O F REFRACTION

1 . I n c ident and refracted rays lie in the same p l a ne .

2 . When a ray of l i g ht passes a t a n a n g l e i nto a denser

mediu m , it i s bent towa rd the norm a l , hence the an

g le of refra ction ( r) i s s ma l ler tha n the a ng l e o f in
cide nce ( i ) , as be low.
3 . The i ndex of refraction of any med i u m i s th e ratio
between th e speed o f l ig ht i n a vac u u m ( or in a i r )
a nd its speed i n th e med i um .
THE I N D EX O F RE FRACT I O N (n)
determines the amount of bending
of a light ray as it crosses the
boundary from air into the medium.
For example, in any of the diaWATER

grams be low, the ratio between

the line x and the line y, ( ) is
equal to the refractive inde ( n )
i f d i s the same length in both
air and the medium.

D I AM O N D

GLASS

.:. _J

\ -t 1
I
I

1. 33

1.5

o
c

2 .4

43

AIR

FR OM A PO I N T SOURCE ( 0 )
under water, the refracted rays
in air make larger and larger
angles with the normal , as the
angles of incidence become larger.
At the same ti me, the a mount of
ligh t reflected back i n to the water
increa ses. Finally, for the ray 08,
when the angle of refraction be-

l i gh t pas s i n g
into a i r

comes 90, a l l t h e light i s reflected.

The angle of i n cidence OBA,
ca lled the critical angle, for pure
water is 4 9 ; fo r a ray striking
a g la ss-ai r s u rface, it i s about
4 0 . Beca u se of this, a 45 -90- 4 5
pr is m reflects 1 00% of t h e li ght
enteri ng it and can there fo re be
u sed as a perfect mi rror ( p. 6 0 ) .

REFLECTIO N occu rs whenever a l ig ht ray

str i kes th e surface of a med i u m wh ose refractive index
is less tha n th at of th e med i um in which the l i g ht is
travel ing. The a mount of l ight th at is reflected depends
on th e angle at wh ich it hits the s u rface . light from
a point sou rce ( above) h its the s u rface at ma ny a ng l es .

I NTER NAL

is the separation of light i nto its com

ponent wavel ength s . One method of d i s persing a l ight
beam i s to pass it through a g lass prism-a th ick piece
of g lass with flat non-pa ra l lel sides ( below). The re
fractive i ndex of a l l mater i a l s ( p . 4 3 ) depends s l ightly
on the wave l ength of the l ight. Fo r glass and other
tran sparent materi a l s the refractive i ndex i s l a rger fo r
the short ( bl u e ) wavelengths than for the longer ( red )
ones. Thus, when a beam of white l ight is passed th rough
a prism, the blue rays w i l l be bent more tha n the red
rays -that is, the l ight s preads out to form a spectrum .
The co lors i n the spectrum a ppea r i n the o rder of i n
crea s i ng wave length: vio l et, b l u e , green, ye l low, orange,
a nd red . Sir I saac N ewton first exp l a i ned the s pectrum .
H e showed that, co ntra ry to popu l a r bel ief, the prism
d i d not create the beautiful colors, but o n l y made visi
b l e the components of white l ight.
Scienti sts make use of d i spersion i n the analysis of
l i g ht em i tted o r a bso rbed by va rious materi a l s both o n
t h e earth and on other bod ies i n s p a c e ( p. 6 3 ) .
DISPERSION

WH ITE LIGHT ( below ) entering

through a na rrow s l it at the left
stri ke s the pri s m a t an acute angl e .
T h e longer-wa'lele ngth red ray s
are be n t less tha n the shorter
wavele ngth blue, s o a pa rtial sepa
ra tion occ u rs in t h e glass. The
be am then strikes the second sur
face of the pr ism, again a t an a cu te

angle, and the rays a re once aga in

re fracted. They leave the prism
as divergent ray s of different
wavelengths. A wh ite screen i s
pl aced some d ista n ce from the
prism and the di fferent colors
appear on it. The spectrum co n
sists of many i ma ges of the slit,
each of di fferent color.

i s the bending of waves around a n ob

stacle. It is easy to see th i s effect for water wave s .
They b e n d around t h e corner of a s e a wa l l , or spread
as they move out of a channel . Diffraction of l ight
waves, however, i s harder to observe . I n fact, d i ffrac
tion of l ight waves is so s l ight that it escaped notice
for a long time. The amount of bending is p roportional
to the s ize o f l ight waves-about one fi fty-thousandth
of an inch ( 5 ,000 A)-so the bend i ng is a l ways very
sma l l i ndeed .
When l i g ht from a d i stant s treet l a m p i s viewed
th ro ug h a wi ndow screen it fo rms a c ros s . The fou r
sides of ea ch tiny screen hole act as the sides of a s l it
and bend l ight in fou r d i rectio ns, prod u c i ng a cross made
of fo ur p rongs of l ight. Anoth er way to see th e di ffrac
tion of l i g ht waves is to look at a di stant l i ght bulb
th ro ug h a very na rrow vertica l s l i t . Light from the bulb
DIFFRACTI ON

A PATTER N O F WAVES wil l m ove

outwa rd , forming concentric c ir
cl es, if smal l pebbles are drop ped
reg u la rly from a fixed po int into
a qu iet pond . If a board is placed
in the po th of these waves, they
will be seen to be nd arou nd the
edg es of the board, cau s ing an

46

inte re sting patte rn where the

waves from the two edges of the
board meet and cross each oth er.
When an obstruction with a ver
tical slit is p laced in the pond
in the path of the wave s, the
waves s pread out in circ les
beyond the s l it.

bend s at both edges of the s l i t a nd a ppea rs to s p read

out sideways, forming an elo ngated d i ffraction pattern
in a direction perpendic u l a r to th e s l i t .
l i g h t can be imagined a s waves whose fronts spread
out in expa nd i ng concentric spheres around a source.
Each point on a wave front can be thought of a s the
source of a new d i sturbance. Each point can act a s a
new l ight source with a new series of concentric wave
fronts expanding outward from it. Po i nts a re i n fi n itely
numerous on the su rface of a wave front a s it c rosses
an open i n g .
As new wave fro nts fa n o u t from e a c h poi n t of a
sma l l opening, such as a pinhole or a na rrow s l i t, th ey
re inforce each othe r when they a re i n p h a s e ( p. 4 8 ) a nd
cancel ea ch other when they are comp l etely o ut of ph ase .
Th us l ig hter a nd da rker a reas form th e banded diffrac
tion patte rn s .
DI FFRACT ION PATT ER N S are
formed when light from a point
source passes through pinho les
and s l its. A pinhol e gives a c i rc u
lar pattern and a sl it giv e s an
elonga ted pattern . A sh arp image
is not formed by l ight passing
through beca use o f d iffract ion.

As the pinhole or s l it gets smaller,

the diffraction pattern gets larger
but di mmer. In the d iffraction
patterns shown below the a lter
nate l ight and dark s pa ces are
due to interfe ren ce (p. 4 8 ) be
tween waves arriving from d if
ferent parts of the pinhole or slit.

CONSTRUCTIVE INTER FERENCE

1.

i n-phase
waves

2 . i n - phase

waves
combined

.:M=
+f-1

DESTRUCTIVE I NTER FERENCE

1.

;:-phoe

2 . out-of-phase
waves
combined

is an effect that occurs when two waves

of equ a l frequency a re superimposed . Th i s o ften hap
pens when l ight rays from a s i n g l e source travel by
d i fferent paths to the same poi nt. I f, at the point of
m eeti ng, the two waves are i n phase ( vi brati ng i n u n i
s o n , and t h e c rest of one coi nciding w i t h the crest of
the other), they will com bine to form a new wave of
the same frequency. The ampl itude of the new wave i s
t h e sum of t h e a m p l itudes of t h e original waves. The
process o f form ing th is new wave is ca l l ed construc
tive i nterference .
If the two waves meet out of phase ( crest of one co
inciding with a trough of the other), the res u l t i s a
wave whose a m p l itude i s the d ifference o f the orig i n a l
ampl itudes . Th i s process is cal led destructive i nter
ference. If the original waves have eq u a l ampl itudes,
INTER FERE NCE

I NTERFER E N CE OCCUR S when

l i gh t waves fro m a po int sourc e
(a si ngl e s l it ) travel b y two d if
ferent poths ( th rough the double

s i n gle
s l it

slit). Their interference is shown

by a pattern of a l ternate light
and dark bands when a screen i s
placed across t h e i r path.
screen
in

phase

l ight
source

48

i n pha se

---

they may com pletely destroy each other, leaving no

wave at a l l . Con structive i nterference res u l ts in a bright
spot; destructive interference produces a dark spot.
Partia l constructive o r destructive i nterference re
s u l ts whenever the waves have a n i ntermed iate phase
relation s h i p . I n terference of waves does not c reate or
destroy l ight energy, but merely red i stributes it.
Two waves i nterfere only i f thei r phase relationship
does not change. They a re then said to be coherent.
Light waves from two d i fferent sou rces do not inter
fe re because radiations from differen t atom s are con
sta ntly changing th eir phase re lation s h i p s . Th ey a re
non- coherent ( see lasers, p. 1 5 2 . )
wh ich change their appearance
with the angle of viewing and the d i rection of the
i l l u mination, are due to i n terference. The d e l i ca te hues
of soap bubbles and oil fi l m s , the pale ti nts of mother
of-pea r l , and the bri l l iant colors of a peacock ' s ta i l are
a l l i ridescent colors .
I RIDESC E NT COLORS,

A SOA P B U BBLE a ppears irides

ce nt u nder white light when the
th ickness of the bubble is of the
order of a wavelength of l ig h t. Th i s
oc curs because light wav es re
flected from front and ba ck sur
fa ces of the film travel d ifferent
di stances. A difference in pha se
results that may ca use destructive
interference for some particular

wavelength , and the hue or color

associated with that wavelength
w i l l be absent from the reflected
light. If the missing hue i s red,
reflected light a ppears blue-green,
the complement of red. If film
thickness or direction of i l l umina
tion changes, interference occurs
at d ifferent wavelengths and the
reflected light changes color.
red reflections
cancel if film
thi ckness is
one-hal f
wavelength
of red

white

light

source

white

saeen

When a beam of white light

passes through milk, the blue
compon ents are scattered, the
reds are transmitted.

i s the random deflection of l ight rays by

fine parti cles. When s u n l ight enters through a crack,
scattering by dust pa rticles in the air makes the shaft
of light v i s i b l e . Haze i s a resu l t of l ight scattering by
fog and smoke particles.
Reflecti on, diffraction, and i n terference all play a
part i n the complex phenomenon of scattering. If the
scattering pa rti cles a re of u n i form size and much sma l ler
tha n the wavel ength of l ight, sel ective scattering may
occur and the materi a l wi l l appear colored, as shown
above . S horter wavel ength s w i l l be scattered much more
strong ly than longer ones . I n genera l , scattered light
wi l l appear bluish, wh i le the rema i n i n g d i rectly trans
m i tted l ight wi l l lack the scattered blue rays and th us
appea r orange or red . Many natura l blue tints a re due
to sel ective scattering rather than to blue pigments . The
blue of skies and ocean s i s due to th i s kind of scatter
ing. B l ue eyes a re the resu l t of l ight scattering in the
i r i s when a dark pigment is lacki n g .
Scattering b y larger particles i s nonselective and
produces wh ite . The whiteness of a b i rd ' s feather, of
snow, and o f cloud s - a l l a re due to scattering by parti
c les which, though sma l l , a re large compared to the
wavelength of l ight.
SCATTERING

50

ABSORPTION AN D TRANSMISSION BY O PTICAL M ATER I ALS

u l tra - v is- infrared
v iolet i ble

quartz

rock salt

S ince crown g lass and flint glass

absorb ultrav iolet l ight, a quartz

to 1 45 ,000 A
I

bulb is u sed for the light source

of a sun l a mp.

of light a s it passes through matter re

s u l ts in a decrease i n intensity. Abso rption, l i ke scatter
ing ( p. 5 0 ) , may be general or selective. Selective ab
sorption g ives the worl d most of the colors we see . Glass
fi l ters which a bsorb pa rt of the vi s i b l e spectrum are used
i n research and photog raphy. An a bsorption curve for a
fi l ter ( below) shows the amount of l i g h t absorbed at a
particu l a r wave l ength . A u n i t th ickness of the absorbing
med i u m wi l l always absorb the same fraction of light
from a bea m . I f the first m i l l i meter thickness o f a fi l ter
absorbs V2 the l ight, the second m i l l i meter a bsorbs 1h
th e rem a i n i ng l ight, o r 1/4 o f the tota l . Th e third m i l l i m eter
ab sorbs 1h of th e V4 , so on ly Vs of the light is tra n s
mitted th rough three m i l l i mete rs o f fi l te r . S e e a l so p . 1 1 1 .

ABSOR PTIO N

ABSORPTION CURVE OF A GREEN PLASTI C F I LTER

20

.Q
c:

0.
0
"'

-<(

.JJ

40
20
0

40

60

80

1 00

.Q

c:

"'
"'

e
"'
c:

1-

willemi te

under white light

FLUORESCENT M I N ERALS seen
under white light ( left) emit
colored l ight ( right) when exposed

to invisible u l traviolet rays. The

color of the fluorescence depends
on the nature of the minera l .

FLUORESCE NCE AND PHOSPHORESCE NCE are cau sed

by l ight stri k i ng atoms . In th e col lision, en ergy i s trans
fe rred fro m the light to the e l ec tron s o f th e atom s . This
energy may be re-rad iated as light o r d i ssipa ted a s
heat. If the emi tted l i g ht i s o f t h e same frequen cy a s
th e i n c ident l i g ht, th e effect i s a ki nd o f scatteri ng . In
ma ny cases, howeve r, the emitted light i s of a diffe rent
( u s ua l l y l ower ) frequency th an th e i n c ident lig ht, a nd is
cha ra cte ri stic of the atom that emitted it. The i m mediate
re-rad iation of absorbed light en ergy as l i g h t o f a d i ffer
en t co lor i s c a l l ed fl uo rescence.
Some materia l s conti nue to emit l ight for a time after
the incident rad iation has been cut off. Th i s i s phos
phorescence, usua l l y a property of crysta l s or of l a rge
organic molec u l e s . Phosphorescence often depends on the
presence of m i nute qua ntities of impu rities or i mper
fection s i n the c rystal that provide ' ' traps ' ' for excited
e lectro n s . These el ectrons have received extra energy
from i nc ident rad i atio n . The electro n s rema i n i n the
' ' traps ' ' until shaken loose by the h eat vibrations of
the atoms i n the crysta l . Phosphorescent l ight i s emitted
as the e l ectrons retu rn to their normal positi o n s . Solid
su bstances that prod uce l ight i n th i s way a re ca l led
phosphors .

52

T H I N PLATES OF TOURMALI N E
tran smit light with vi brations
restricted to a s i ngle plane ( po
larized l ight) . When one plate is
turned so its ax i s is at right
angles to the other, no light
passes through. Good natura l
crysta l s of tou rmaline a re rare.
Better polarizing materials made
synthetica lly a re now available.

wa ve s a re restricted i n the i r d i r ection

of vi b ra ti o n . Normal light waves vi brate i n an infinite
nu mber of d i rections perpend icular to th ei r di recti on of
travel ( p. 8 ) . For exa m p l e, i n the head-on vi ew of un
po larized l i g h t ( below rig ht ) th e l i nes a , b, c, d, and an
infi nite number of others are perpend i c u l a r to the ray.
At a pa rticul ar i n stant any one of them m i gh t repre sen t
th e di rection of th e vi bration s . Th us, from mo ment to
moment, the direction of th e l ig ht vi b ra tions changes i n
a random fash i on . W h e n compon en ts o f vi bration i n
one di rection o n l y are p resent, t h e light i s p l a n e pola rized .
POLARIZED LIGHT

CO N CE PT U AL ERR ORS m ay be
introduced when i ll u strating polar
ized light. Of the va ri ous po ssi-

bi lities, the symbols used be low

give the best analogy to the
events happe n i n g with po l a ri zatio n .

Head-o n
unpol arized

*
d

pa rtial ly polod,ed

-;;?

;2

;12

-! l l

po la ri zed horizonta lly

po la ri zed vertical ly

53

"

co unterc lockwise

rotation
of plane of
vibra tion

cl ockwi s e

of a po l a r i zed l ight wa ve is
usual l y unaffected in pas sing th rough a tra nspa rent mate
ria l - it remai n s pol a r i zed in the same pl a n e . Some op
tic a l l y ac tive materi a l s , howeve r, rotate th e plane of
vi bration in either a c lockwise or cou ntercloc kwise di rec
tio n . Q ua rtz c rysta l s oc cur in both c loc kwise a nd counte r
clockwi se va rieties . Sugar sol utions a re a l so optica l l y
active . A chemist can dete rm ine the concentration of
sugar in a so l ution by m ea suring the rota tion of th e
plane of vibration when plane-po larized l i g ht i s pa ssed
th ro ug h th e s o l ution . A dextro se sugar s o l u tion cau ses a
clockwi se ro tation; l evulose suga r, a cou ntercloc kw i se
one. A device fo r measuring the a ng l e o f rotation of
th e plane of vibration is cal l ed a pol a riscope . A sac
cha ri m eter is a pola riscope used in sugar analyses .
T H E PLANE O F VIBRATION

a vertically polarized ray

CD

may be rotated clockwise

o r counterclockwise

( side view)

rotation

,r'
calci te
( end v iew)

DOUBLY REFRACTING CRYSTALS, such as ca l c i te and

quartz, break u p l ight rays i nto two parts, ca l l ed ord i n a ry
and extraord i n a ry rays, which are po l a r i zed at right
angles to each other. Such a crysta l has a d i fferent
refractive index fo r each of the two rays, and they are
bent at d ifferent ang les when they enter the c rysta l .
Th i s dou b l e refraction wi l l fo rm two i mages when a
ca l ci te c rysta l i s placed over a dot on a piece of paper.
The dot appears a s two dots a sma l l d i stance apart.
Rotating the c rysta l causes one of the dots to rotate
about the oth e r . The dot that rema i n s stationary is the
image fo rmed by the ordinary ray. Th i s a lways l i e s in the
plane of incidence ( plane i nc l uding the normal and the
inc ident ray) . The moving dot i s the i mage formed by
the extraord i n a ry ray .
A N I COL PR ISM i s made by ac
curately cutti ng a calcite crystal
and cementing the parts back
together with Canada ba lsam.
Because of the difference in the
refractive indices, the ordinary
cal cite
ray. is reflected out the side of
the prism by the Canada balsam
layer, while the extraord inary ray
passes directly th rough . N icol
prisms were used to produce
polarized light rays over a hundred years before the d i s covery
of Polaroid. They are still among
the
most efficient polarizing hill
devices.
.

*
(/
.

<::-0:

'

'

55

W ithout Polaroid filter

With Polaroid filter

i nvented by Edwin Land in 1 9 3 2 , acts upon

l ight i n the same way as tou rma l i ne (p. 5 3 ) , transm it
ting o n ly those components of l ight that a re vibrating
i n one d i recti o n . The other components of the wave are
a bsorbed . Polaroid i s convenient to use. Po laroid sun
g l asses, for example, transmit only vertic a l vi bration s,
and th us e l i m i nate the g lare of l ight po larized by re
flection from horizonta l su rfaces . Photog raph ers often
use Po laroid fi l ters ( a bove ) to red uce u nwanted reflec
tions, and a l so to da rken the sky i n color photographs
by removing some of the scattered l ight, which i s partly
pola rized .
POLAROI D,

STRE SSES in stru ctural pa rts may

be s tudied in plastic o r glas s
models by placing them between
sheets of Po la roid an d photograph
ing them unde r s tres s . The result
in g stra i n s make the p la stic or
glas s doubly re fracting ( p . 5 5 ) ,
bu t to a d i fferent deg ree fo r
different wavelengt hs of li ght.
When such material is viewed be
tween Polaroid sheets, bea utiful
co lors appea r, indicating th e degree
of stre ss .

a re largely responsi
ble for the po larized l i ght that we see. Natura l l y polarized
light is often only partly po larized a nd effects are not
rea d i l y noticed .

THREE POLA RIZATION PROCESSES

AB SO R PTION of l ight pa s s i n g
throug h a natural crystal o f tou rma
line can produce polarizatio n .
T h e c rystal resolves a l l t h e vi
bration s of the u npolarized l ight
into two components and absorbs
on e of them. I n one form of
Pol aroid ( p. 5 6 ) , long, thin mo
lec ular chains containing iodine
absorb some l ig h t v ib ra tion s and
tra nsmit oth ers .

REFLECTION of light at an angle

from a n on-m etal li c surface, such
as glass or water, makes it pa rtly
po la rize d. When the refle cted
ra y and refracted ray are at right
ang les, the reflected ray is com
pl etely pola ri zed . I n th is case,
the incident angle is cal l ed
Brewster' s angle. Regu larly re
flected l i gh t ( g la re ) from road s ,
beaches a n d water is pa rtly
pola ri zed .

SCATTER I N G partly po la ri zes light

from the sky. Lig ht rays from the
sun exc ite tran sverse e lectri c
vi brations in air molec u les, which
then scatter pol arized light i n
drrectio n s perpend icular to vibra tio n s . Look a t t h e sky 90 d egrees
awa y from the sun through a
piece of Pol aroi d. N ote change
in brightn e s s a s the Polaroid is
rotated.

TOUR MALI NE

GLASS

I '
I ....''
I Cll1: '

I -'!:'
I

Cli
O' .

I
I
I

1l
N

'

&.

57

O PT I C AL IN STRU M E NT S

An optica l i n strument uses m i rrors, len ses, prisms o r

gratings, singly o r i n com bination, to reflect, refract
or otherwise mod i fy l i ght rays . Optical i nstruments,
especia lly m i c roscopes and telescopes, have probably
broadened man ' s inte l l ectua l horizons more tha n any
oth er devices he has made.
Perhaps th e best way to understand the operation of
optical instruments is by geometrica l optics-a m ethod
that dea l s with l ight as rays i n stead of waves or pa r
ticles. These rays fol low the laws of reflection ( p . 4 1 )
and refraction ( p . 4 3 ) a s wel l as the laws of geo ,.; etry .
I MAGES formed by mirrors and
lenses may be either real or
virtual and of a predictable size
a nd l oc ation . A real i mage, as
formed by a camera or proj ector,
is an actual conven ing of l i ght

rays and ca n be caught on a

screen; virtual i mages cannot.
The rays from object points do
not pas s through corresponding
points of a v i rtual image. I mages
seen i n binocu lars a re v i rtua l .

are the oldest and mo st widely u sed optica l

in stru ments . Th e p lane mi rror i s the simpl est i mage
fo rm ing devi c e . Plane mi rro rs a re found in eve ry home.
Sph erical or pa ra bo l i c mirrors a re often used in optica l
instruments instead o f lenses.
MI R RORS

obj ect

/
/ / /"/
//
Pla ne
;;/

v irtual image

58

Mi rror

A PLANE OR FLAT M I RROR

produces a virtual image since the
light rays do not come directly
from the image. Rays from an
object are redi rected by the mir
ror so that they appear to come
from an image located as far be
hind the mirror as the object is
i n front of the mirror. Obj ect
and image are the same size, but
the image i s reversed from left to
right.

c u rvature
CO NCAVE SPH E R ICAL M I RRORS
have an axis of symmetry through
their center, called the optic
axis. A point on this axis equi
distant from every poi n t on the

Co ncave
m i rror ' s s u rface i s the center
of curvature. An object beyond
the center of c u rvature forms a
real image between the focal
poi n t and center of cu rvatu re .

1 . If a sma l l ob ject is p la ced at

the center of curvature, the m i r
ror forms a rea l image which co
incides with the object but is
upside down .

(2)
2. As the object i s mov ed closer
to the mirro r, the i mage moves
rapidly away, getting larger the
farther it goes.
3. When the object rea ches a
po int ha lfway between the mi rror
and the center of curva ture, the
reflected ra ys fro m eac h poi n t
became paral le l and do not fo rm
an i mage at a l l . The object is
then at the foca l poi nt of the
mi rror .
4. I f the object i s moved closer
to the m irror than the fo ca l
po int, the reflected ra ys d iverg e
as though they c a m e from a virtual
i mage located beh i n d the m irror.
This virtual image is upright and
larger than the object.

........
. ..
- ..... ....

.....

v irtual i m age

........
..

are tra n sparent so l ids of g l a s s or other

materi a l whose opposite faces a re plane but not neces
sari ly para l l e l . Th ey are used to bend l ight rays by re
fraction or i nternal reflection . The amount of bend ing
depends o n the refractive i ndex of the pri s m , the angle
between its faces, a nd the ang l e of incidence of the
l ight. Since the refractive i ndex depends a l so on the
wavele ngth (p. 4 5 }, prisms are often used to d i s perse a
l ight bea m into i ts spectrum .

OPTICAL PRISMS

4 5 - 9 0 - 4 5 PR ISMS

..

--,
I
I

/
/

/'

''

>

60

periscope

A 4 5 - 90 - 4 5 DEGR EE PR ISM
will reflect l ight rays by tota l
intern a l reflection . When the
light rays enter perpend icular to
one of the short faces of the
prism, they are reflected totally
from the long face and depart at
right angles to the other s hort
face ( 1 ) . These pri s m s are more
efficient than s i lvered m i rrors .
Two such pri sms m ay be used i n
peri s copes t o direct t h e light
down the tube and into the eye
piece ( 2 ) . The 4 5 -90-45 degree
pri sm may a l so be turned so that
the l ight rays enter and leave
perpendicular to the long face ( 3 ) .
B i noc ulars ( p . 7 6 ) use such
prisms in this way.
A DOVE PR ISM is a modification
of the 4 5 - 90-4 5 pri s m . The 90
deg ree corner has been removed .
The prism inte rchanges the pos ition
of two parallel rays, as shown . I f
the pri s m i s rotated a round the
d i rection of the light, the two rays
will rotate about one another at
twice the angular s peed of the
pri s m rotation . Dove prisms u sed
in optical instruments to i nvert
an image are ca l l ed erecting
pri s m s .

A TRI PLE M I R R O R has the shape

of a corner symmetrically sliced
from a glass cube. Light enter
ing toward the corner from .any
direction is reflected back paral
lel to the direction from which
it came. Tripl e mi rrors are used
in bicycle and other reflectors,
Placed along roads, they reflect
the head lights of cars, warning
motorists of curves a nd other
ch anges in driving conditions.

60-60-60

DEGREE

PRISM

is used most frequently for dis

persing light into its component
wavelengths. A new or unknown
transparent material is often cut
into this shape so its optical prop
erties can be studied with a spec
trometer _ ( below), an instrument
designed to measure angles of
refraction of light rays. In the
simplest and most familiar type
of spectrometer, light from an

l ight is
reflected
back toward
source

outside source enters a narrow,

adjustable slit in a collimator tube.
I t then passes through a lens
that renders the rays of light
parallel. The rays of light are
directed onto a prism that re
fracts and disperses them in a
spectrum that can be viewed
through a telescope. The spec
trograph (p. 5 ) is similar in struc
ture but is equipped to photograph
the spectra .

SPECTROMETER

3rd order

2nd order

1 st order

image

1 st order

2 nd order 3rd order

A d iffraction g rating prod uces several orders of the s pectru m . The

central image is white; h ig her order spectra overlap.

may be used i n stead of

prisms to d i sperse l ight. Gratings were first used by
Joseph Fraunhofer in 1 8 1 9 to observe the spectrum of
the sun. I n 1 8 8 2 Henry A. Rowland perfected a m ethod of
producing gratings of exception a l l y high q u a l ity. The
m odern version con sists of fi ne para l l e l l i n es (up to
30,000 to the i nc h ) ru led i n an a l u m i n u m coating on
a pla ne or con cave gla ss su rface . Light wa ves d iffracted
from these l i nes interfere so that a l l wa vel en gths but
one a re canceled i n any particu lar d i recti o n . Different
wa ve l engths l eave th e gra ti ng at differen t a ng les and
fo rm a spectru m . Grating s can be u sed i n the u ltraviolet
and infra red as We l l a s in the v i s i ble reg ion o f th e spec
tr um; spec ia l grating s are u sed with X-rays .
D i spersion by a prism is grea ter fo r short wa ve l ength s
th an for longer one s . Th e d i spersion o f a g ra ting, how
ever, is a l most i ndependent of the wa ve len gth . G ra ti ngs
prod uce a no rma l spectru m in which equal d i sta nces co r
re spond to equ al wave l ength i nterval s a n d may be su
peri o r to a prism in dispersion and reso lution .
Grati ngs prod uce more than one spectrum a t the same
time. These occ u r as a series of ever-wider spectra o n
either side of a b r i g h t centra l i m a g e . T h e fi r s t spec
trum on each side is known a s a first-o rder s pectru m
and i s due to i n terference by a series o f waves which
are out of phase by one wave length . The second ( second
order) s pectrum o n each side is twice as long (has twice
the d i spersion ) as the first. Each i s formed by a series
of waves out of phase by two wave l engths . The third
order spectrum overlaps the second order spectrum and
DIFFRACTIO N

GRATI NGS

has three ti m es the d i spersion of the first. H i g h e r orders

a l so overlap thei r neighbors and are longer but d i mmer.
Diffraction grati ngs, l i ke prisms (p. 60), are used in
spectroscopes for dispersion of a beam of l ig h t . The
largest i n stru ments are of the g rati ng type. A spectro
g raph record s the spectrum photogra phica l l y or e l ectron
ica l ly . A monoch romator, also either prism or grating,
uses a slit to i solate a narrow portio n of the s pectrum
for sc ientific study. These instruments a re used to study
the ma ny properties of l ight sources, from candles to
d i sta nt stars, to learn the kinds of a to m s and m o l ecu les
of wh ich th ey a re made, plus such othe r featu res as
tem peratu res, velocities, and energy state s . Most of what
scientists kn ow about the structure of ato m s was l ea rned
with spectrographs. The same is tru e about o u r know l edge
of d i sta nt sta rs, ne bu lae a nd ga lax ies - th e i r te mpera
tu re s , velocities and chem ical structu re s .
A PASC HEN SPECTROGRAPH
uses a concave di ffra ction g rating
in a simple ma nner. The g ra ting,
the photograp h ic plate, and the
entra nce s l it a re all arranged
around a c ircu l ar trac k. Light

passes through the s l it, strikes

the grating, and forms spectra
of various orders a l l in focus
on the circle. The photograph i c
p late is p laced on t h e track
record desired wavelength s .

PASCH EN
MOUNTI NG

3rd order
spectrum

concave
grating

2nd order
spectrum

1 st order
spectrum
centra l i mage

63

A LENS forms a n image by refracti ng the l ight rays

from an object. Curved g lass lenses were first used a s
s i m p l e mag_n ifiers i n the 1 3th century, b u t it w a s not
ti l l nearly i 600 that the microscope was devi sed , fo l
lowed b y t h e tel escope a decade or so later. Mi rrors,
''
which form a n image by reflecti n g light rays, had a l
ready been known for several centu ries a n d were easier
to understa n d . A lens, however, has a n advantage over a
m i rror in that it perm its the observer to be on the op
posite side fro m the i ncoming light.

SIMPLE POSITIVE LE NSES ( a l so

known as converg ing lenses) are
sing le pi eces of glass that are
thicker at their centers than at
their edges. Each s urface is a sec
tion of a sphere, and a l ine
through the two centers of cu rva
ture (AB) is the optic axi s . light
passing through a lens is bent
toward the thicker part of the
g la s s . light rays parallel to the
optic axi s are bent by the lens
so as to converge at the focal
point ( F ) of the len s . S im i l arly,
l ight coming from the opposite
direction converges at a second
focal point an equa l d istance
on the opposite side o f the len s .
T h e distance from the center o f
t h e lens ( C ) t o the focal point
( F ) is the foca l length of the lens.
1
_
-+---;._
1

focal
l ength

All pos itive lenses a re thicker

at thei r centers than at their
edges. They range from very
th i n lenses with su rfaces of little
curvature to thick lenses that a re
nearly spherical in shape. Most
lenses i n general use are "thin"
lenses. Best known and widely
used as a s i mple magnifier is
the double convex lens whose
surfaces usually, but not always,
have the same curvature. The
plano-convex lens has one side
flat, the other convex . The posi
tive meniscus lens has one con
vex surface and one concave
s u rface. The convex s u rface has
a sma ller radius of curvature
than the concave surface. As a
resu lt, the lens i s a lways thicker
at its center than at its edg e .
double
convex

planoconvex

positive
meniscus

--------O P.ti c
a xis

64

po sitive le ns

focal point
eye

I
I
I
I

point

v irtual image

j-focal length -4- focal leng th -i

When an object is p laced between
a pos itive lens and either focal
point, an upright, enlarged i mage
wi l l appear on the same side of

object d istance

i mage distance

focal

foca l

rea l

the lens but farther away than the

object. This virtual image ( p. 5 8 )
can be seen only b y look ing at
the object through the lens.

,,
I f an object is placed beyond
the focal point, its i mage will
be rea l , inverted, and located
on the opposite side of the lens.
When the object i s more than

twi ce the focal length from the

lens the image w i l l be smaller
tha n the object . With the obj ect
c loser than twice the foca l
l ength , the i mage i s larger.

MAGN I FICATION i s the ratio of

length of image to length of ob
ject. I t equals the distance of
the image divided by the di stance
of the object from the lens. Hence,
an image will be larger than the
object o n ly if it i s farther from
the len s . The shorter the foca l

leng th of a lens, o r the greater

it s convex curvature, the greate r
its mag nifying power . Th i s power,
expressed i n d io pters , is the
foca l length of a lens i n meters
divi ded into 1 . A l en s with a
foca l length o f 25 em . ( 114 m . ) has a
magn i fy i ng p ower of 4 diop ters .
ma gn ification

eye
real
i mage
on
J
retina

'1E:3

I
I

magn ifier

.image di stance
ob ject distance

v irtual i mage

'

obj ect

i mage
negative lens

eye

The eq u iconcave ( o r do uble-concave ) lens is used as a dimini shing

gl as s to see how illu strations will redu ce in pri nting.
SIMPLE N EGAT IVE LEN SES (also
cal led
diverging
lenses)
a re
thicker at the edges than at the
center. A negative lens alone can
not form a real image as a posi
tive lens does. l ight passing
through a negative lens parallel
to the optic axis i s bent away
from the axis . . The foca l point
of the negative lens i s located

by extending these diverging

rays backward until they cross
the axis. The image formed by a
diverging lens i s always v i rtual,
upright, and smaller and closer to
the lens than the object.
N egative len ses a re used to re
duce images ( below), to correct
nearsig htedness ( p. 69) and to co n
stru c t compou nd lenses ( p . 7 1 ) .

Three type s of negative lenses

negative
meniscus

is a fai l u re of a lens or m i rror to form

a perfect image. Two of the six most i m po rtant types of
a berration a re spherica l and c h romati c . Spherica l aber
ration is ca used when pa ra l l el l i g ht rays pa s s i ng th ro ug h
a lens a t d i fferent di stances from the optic axis a r e not
a l l focu sed at the same po i nt. A d i aphragm that de
creases th e aperture of the lens wi l l e l i m i nate the outer
ra ys and red u c e spherical aberra ti on . Chromatic a berra
tio n is cau sed by th e fa ct th at a lens be nd s eac h col or,
or wave l ength, to a different degree .

AN ABERRATION

66

--.f
---i----

lens
diaphragm

Sph erical
Aberrati on
Co rrec ted

Sph erical
Aber rati on
SPH E R I C AL ABER RATION de
pend s on curvature of th e l e n s .
light ra ys passing th rough th e
outer part of th e lens bend too
sh arply to pass th rough th e focal
po int and form a fu z zy i mage .

If th e sph e rica l aberration is

to be k e pt to a m i n i m u m, th e radii
of curva ture of th e lens s u rfaces
sh ould be large co mpared to th e
di ameter of th e l e n s . A d ia ph rag m
limits the lens a perture .

a screen here
shows the lea st b l u rred i ma ge

I
I

white
l ight

CH R OMATIC AB ER RATION re
su lts from unwanted d ispersion
of l ig ht ( p . 4 5 ) in a le n s , so
th at d iff erent colors a re focused
at s l ig htly different distance s .
It prod uces a blu rring o f th e
imag e in o ptica l i n stru m ents .

C h roma tic a be r ra tion ca n be

corrected by com bi ning two or
mo re s i mp le l enses made of d if
fe rent k in d s of g la ss , so th a t
th eir di s persions can c e l each
oth e r . S uch lenses a re said to
be a ch rom ati c .

all

to

colors come
focus

a common

FARSIGHTED EYE

Eyeglasses to correct farsighted

ness have positive l enses.

lens

obje ct at
normal near point

aid a process cal led a ccom modation . The

mu scles attached to th e l ens of the eye change the
sha pe of the len s so tha t the images of o b j ec ts at di ffer
en t d i sta nc es are brought to a fo cus on th e reti n a . The
ra nge of thi s ac comm oda tion, in norm a l eyes ight, is
from a " near point" at wh ich the eye can see an ob
ject i n most detai l (a bout 1 0 i n ches ) to a far po i nt on
th e hor izo n .
F o r s o m e people, t h e n e a r point i s much farther away
than 1 0 inches. They see d i stant objects c l early but
a re unable to focus on objects at reading d i stance. Such
person s are farsighted ( a bove ) . The defect i n their
EY E GLASS ES

Visual accommodation declines with age.

68

N EARSIGHTED EYE

Eyeglasses to correct nea rsighted

ness have negative lense s .

distant
objed

lens

eyes may be corrected by wearing spectacles with posi

tive ( converg i n g ) lenses. An object now held at the norm a l
nea r point i s s e e n or read d i stinctl y . With a g e , t h e lens
of the eye loses some flexi b i l i ty and the m u sc l es at
tach ed to it lose some tone. Th i s loss of accom moda
tion va ries among peopl e . I t can be corrected by g lasses,
usua l ly g round so the u pper part of the lens gives a
correction for d istant visio n . The lower segment of these
bifocal g l asses is a s l ightly th icker, positive lens for
c lose work or readi n g .
A nears ighted person can s e e objects clearly at close
range, but can not foc us on those at a d i sta n c e . Th i s
difficulty i s remedied b y g l a sses with negative ( d iverg i n g )
lenses. With t h e m , d i stant objects a re s e e n as though
they were with i n his range of accommodation .
CONY ACT LENSES are a form
of eyeg lasses that f1t directly
over the cornea of the eye, float
ing on the layer of tears that
covers its s urface. Such small
lenses correct severe refractive
eye conditions and have special
advantages for ath letes, actors,
and others .

contac t len s

12 1
1
1 0 2
3

Asti gmati sm test chart . Rota te

page a t a rm ' s l ength . Al l lines
should a ppear equa lly inten se.

For some person s with severe

astigmatism, the test chart might
look like th i s .

of th e eye i s due to a fa u l t i n the cu rva

tu re of th e cornea or lens ( page 8 5 ) . If either curved
surface i s not sym metrical, ra ys i n different p l a n es wi l l
not be focused a t th e same d i s tance be h i nd th e l en s .
Thu s part of t h e i mage w i l l b e o u t of focu s . Th i s defect
can u s u a l l y be corrected by wea ring spectacles with
cyl i nd rica l lenses ( below) i nstead of spherical ones. For
large corrections or i rreg u l a r corneas, contact len ses
may be presc ri bed . Almost two out o f th ree persons
have at least a m i l d form of astigmati s m .
ASTIG MATISM

focus i n one plane

ASTIGMATIC GLASSES have cy
l in d ri ca l lenses, which a re c u rved
about a transverse axis rathe r
t h a n a round a point, as in s i mple
pos itive lenses. Cylindrical lenses
can aid i n correcting asti gma
tism, i n which the lens o f the eye
does not have sufficient c u rva
ture around its vertical a x i s .
\,

70

.... ...

---

are u sed in p re c i s ion optica l i n stru

ments such as microscope s , te l escope s , a nd expen sive
cameras. Th ey con s i st o f two or mo re s i m p l e l e nses
(e lements ) com bined i n such a way th at the a be rration s
are m i nim i zed. The e lemen ts are sometimes ceme nted to
geth er a nd sometimes caref u l l y spaced a pa rt in the
same mount. De sira bl e c ha racterist i c s of an optica l
i mage a re brig htness, h i g h reso l ution o f fi n e d etai l ,
ed ge sha rpness o f th e i mage, flatne ss o f fie ld, and
good contrast between l i g ht a nd dark porti o n s . A l l of
th ese cannot be ac h i eved at the sam e ti m e, and even
the be st l e n s is a compromise, achi evi n g one good
qual ity pa rt ly at the expense of a noth e r . Comp uters
are now used i n lens design to help choose the proper
curvatu re s , m ater ia l s , and spa c i ng s of th e elements
fo r best cor rection of th e a be rration s .
Some i mage-form i ng i n s tru ments u s e both m i rrors a nd
len ses . Such sys tem s, c onta i n i ng both re frac ti ng a nd
reflecti n g e l em en ts, are ca l l ed catad ioptr i c .
COMPOUND LENSES

eyepiec e
MAG N I FY I N G EYEPIECE i s u sed
in simple viewing and measuring
in stru ments. One form i s the
pocket doublet magnifier. Carefu l
lens grinding and spacing reduces
aberration s .
TELE PHOTO LEN S for a camera
is a compou nd l e n s which gives
the effect of a long focal length
system with a relatively short
len sto-film distance.
M I CROSCOPE OBJECTIVE LEN S
h a s a short foca l length a n d re la
tively large aperture. Its h igh
to
magn ification emphasizes aberra-
tions , so that a h i g h order of 1!01E:-++-H-+---++-+--_., eye
piece
correction is requ i red.

Ray Diag ra m of an Opera G la s s

wa s in vented by a Du tch opti c i a n , Hans

Lippershey, i n 1 608 , som e 3 00 years a fter the invention
of spectac l e s . Gal i l eo received news of t h i s inve ntion
in 1 6 0 9 , a nd without seei ng th e o rig ina l , he con structed
a telescope con s i sti n g of o ne pos itive a nd one n egative
len s mounted i n a d i scarded orga n p i pe . The same opti
cal a rrangement is used m ore effic iently in opera gla sses,
wh ich are usually b i nocular. The pos itive lens i s ca l l ed
th e objective , and the n egative lens i s the o c u l a r, or
eyep i ece . The field of view afforded by opera g l asses
is rather sma l l at large mag ni fication s , so opera gla sses
are u sua l ly of low power - 3 to 5 mag nifi cation s . S i nce
th e eyepiece is a negative len s, the image seen by the
viewe r is u pr ight.
The spyg lass, or te rrestria l te l escope , p rovides a n up
right i m ag e because a third lens l ies between th e ob
jective and ocular ( be low ). Th i s make s th e i n str ument
q u i te long; so, fo r co nven ience, it i s usually made
col laps ible.
TH E TELESCOPE

Ray d ia gram shows how i n verted image i s erected in a si mple spyglass .

72

erecting
l enses

eyepiece
(ocular)

IN
THE REFRACT I N G TELE
SCOPE the o bjective forms a
real , inverted image of a dis
tant object at the prime focus .
The eyepiece then forms a magni-

fled virtual image. Magn ification

depends on the abil ity of the
objective to furnish enough light
and a good i mage for high mag
nification by the eyepiece .

REFRACTING TELESCOPES use pos i tive len ses for both

ob j ective a nd eyep iec e. The real i nverted i mage pro
du ced by th e objective is vi ewed , e n larg ed , th rough
th e eyep iec e . Refra cti n g te lescopes a re l i m i ted to a
ma ximum a pe rture of about one m eter bec a u se of th e
difficulty of produ cing ve ry l a rge pi eces of flawl ess
opti c a l -q u a l i ty g lass , and then grind i ng c oa xi a l curva
tu re s on both s i des o f th e l en s . Al so, a s l en ses are
made larger, the a mount of
light ab sorbed by the g l a s s
inc rea ses, a nd th e wei ght
of th e lens causes it to
sag , i n trod uc i n g optical er
ro rs . Th i s type of te l e
scope i s u sed to study
celesti a l bod i e s .
The refra cting tel escope a t Yerkes
Observatory in Wiscons i n has an
objective lens 40 i n ches in di
ameter, the la rgest u s ed success
fu l ly by a stro nomers . The tele
sco pe has a theoretical magn ify
ing power of 4 , 000 diameters .

The Hale telescope on Palomar

Moun ta i n in Sou thern Ca lifornia
has the largest m i rror of any op
tical telescope . The disk of pyrex
glass has a diameter of 200 i n .
a n d i s 2 7 i n . thick . I t w e i g h s 1 5
ton s . The concave surface is
coated with a l u m i n u m oxide.
V iew here i s of the " cage " in
which the astronomer makes his
observatio n s .

use cu rved m i r rors instead of a n

obj ective lens. A l l telescopes over 40 i n c h e s i n dia meter
are of the reflecti ng type . Since only the surface of a
l a rge m i rror needs to be optica l ly perfect, it can be
braced from the back to prevent di stortion. A wa ffle
pattern mol ded into the back reduces the we ight and
m a i n ta i n s rigidity. The front su rface of the mi rro r is
ca refu l ly ground and po l i shed to a pa rabo loid . I t is
then coated with a very th i n a l um i n u m fl l m, wh ich ox i
d izes into a highly reflecti ng and dura ble surface.
A 2 00-inch reflector co l l ects four times as much l ight
a s a 1 00-inch i n strument. It sees twice a s far into space,
and thus su rveys a un iverse eight times a s large as that
seen by the s m a l l e r telescope.
REFLECTING TELESCOPES

I n the reflecting telescope, light

from astronom ical objects is
reflected from a curved m irror
to a prime focus where an in
ve rted rea l image is formed . I n

the Newto nian fo rm , shown be

low, a fl at mi rror is p laced i n the
bea m to refl ect the pr ime foc u s
towa rd o n eyepiece a t t h e s i d e o f
t h e instrument.

Roy D iagram of a Reflecting Telescope

anal

reflecti ng m ir ror

prime focus

74

pol ished first surface mi rror

l ight from sta rs

spherical m irror

curvature

paraboloida l m i rror

rad ius of c u rvature

Light rays striking a spherica l

m irror pa ra l l e l to the optic axis
are not a l l reflected through the
foca l point ( F ) . But in a parabo-

loidal mi rror, the changing cur

vature re flects a l l rays through
the foca l po int, and a clear,
sharp image results.

is
s i m i lar to that of spherical len ses ( p. 6 7 ) . Para l l e l l ight
rays that str i ke the m i rror at d ifferent d i stances from th e
center are not reflected through th e focal point. Si nce
they do not m eet a t a s i n g l e poi n t, the res u lting image
is fuzzy . The defect becomes more seriou s a s the d i
amete r of t h e m i rror I s m ade l a rger i n proportion t o the
rad i u s of c u rvature.
To avoid spherical aber
ration , m i rrors a re made
with concave pa ra bo l oidal
su rface s . Th ese a re u sed in
tel escopes and search l ights.
SPH ERICAL ABE RRATION OF CONCAVE MI RRORS

SC H M I DT CAMERA i s a form of
te lescope used to take pictures
of large areas of the sky. Its
field of view is wider than other
reflectors because of a " correct
ing" lens inside. Since the field
of foc us is c u rved, this in strument
cannot be used for " eye" ob
servi ng. Shown is the 72 -inch
Sch m idt Camera at Mount Pa lomar.

BINOCULARS a re used, l ike a sma l l te l escope, to view

d i stant objects . Th ey emp loy an optica l system of len ses
and prisms to prod uce an enlarged erect image. The
ocular and the objective lenses provide the magnifica
tion and i l l u m inati o n . Between them is a pa i r of 4 5 -90-45
deg ree pr isms (p. 6 0 ) so arranged tha t the light pa ssing
th ro ug h th e b i nocula rs i s interna l l y refl ected fo ur times,
making the image erect .
THREE F ACTORS are invol ved in
the usefu l ness of bi noculars - m ag
nifica tio n , field of v iew, and l ight
gatheri ng power . Magn ification
must be suited to the purpose.
Any movement by either the ob
server or the observed is magn ified
at h igh power. For hand-held uses,
binoculars with magnifications of
6x to 8x are best. H igher mag
n ifications req u i re a tripod or
other support. Field of view is
largely determ ined by the ocular
lenses. The d iameter of the ob
jective lens determ ines the l ight-

B I NOCULARS

76

gathering power-the larger the

better if binoculars a re used at
n i ght or i n shady woods . Binocu
lars have central or individua l
focus ( centra l preferred ) . They
ra nge
in
mag n ifi cat ion
from
about 2 to 2 0 . Each binoc u la r
has a n id entification ma rk such
as 8 X 30 or 7 X 50. The
first number is the mag n ifi ca tion ,
t h e second t h e objective d ia meter
in m i l l imeters . An 8 X 30 g la ss
has s l i ghtly g reater m ag n ifi cation
but d isti nctly less light-gathering
power than a 7 X 50.

MICROSCOPES, PROJECTORS AND ENLARGERS are

s i m i l a r i n principle, but they differ i n pu rpose and de
sign . In each, a positive lens forms a rea l image of a
brightly i l l u m i nated object. With projectors, the i mage i s
caught o n a screen; with microscopes, it i s viewed
through an eyepiece; and with photog raphic e n l a rgers,
the i m age i s p ro jected on l ight sen sitive paper, where it
i s reco rded i n semi-permanent form .
MICROSCOPES need intense il
lumi nation of the object because
the i mage is much larger than the
object and the same amount of
l ight must be spread over a large
arec . The i l l u m i nation i s provided
either by a tungsten lamp bulb or
by an arc lamp, its light concen
trated on the object by a lens or
by a concave mirror used as a
condenser. The microscope ' s ob
jective lens has a short focal
length ( from 1 em to less than
1 mm ) and prod uces a sharp image
of a very smal l field .

THE MAG N I F ICATION a ch i eved

with an optical mi croscope is ap
prox i ma tely equal to the power
of the objective m u ltipl ied by the
power of the ocu l ar or eyepiece,
prod ucing a n ov era ll magnifi ca
tion of up to about 1 , 5 00 di
ameters .

IMAGE SHARPNESS depe nds on

re solving power rather than on
magn i fying power, and is l imited
by d i ffract ion effect s that blur
the image. Two po ints sepa rated
by a di stance less than one half
the wavelength of light cannot
be re so lved op tica l ly and w i l l
appea r as one p o i n t i n s tead of
two. With the usual i l lumina
tion, this separation is approx i
mately 1 I 1 00,000 of a n inch .
THE ELECTRON M I CR OSCOPE, by
using a b ea m of electro n s with
an effective wavele ngth much
shorte r than that of l ig h t, obtains
over 1 00 times the re solving
power o f opti ca l m i c rosco pe s .

virtual image

PROJ ECTORS use high-i ntens ity

tungsten or arc lamps for i l l umi
nation . Two condensing lenses con
centrate the l ight rays through
the object ( u sually a film s l ide ).
The converging rays pass on
through the projection lenses, and
the enlarged image is th rown on
a screen. This is an inverted
image, so s l ides are inserted
upside down in a projector. With
any given combination of lenses,
the fa rther the image is projected
the larger it w i l l be , and greater
lamp inten sity will be requ i red.
With some projectors ( below ) , an
opaque object can be reflected on
the screen .
OPAQ U E PROJECTOR

PHOTOGR A P H I C
E N LARGERS
a re prec i s ion projectors with ad
j u stments for foc using the image
and contro l l i ng image size and
brightness. Good enlargers pro
vide un iform i l l u mination, a good
'
lens system, and a rigid mount.
I n operation, light from a lamp
i concentrated by a paraboloidal
reflector, passes through a dif
fusing glass ( or a conden sing
len s ) ,
con tinues
through
the
negative and then through the
projection lens, which forms an
enlarged i mage of the negative on
the ea sel. I mage sharpness is
adju sted by moving the projec
tion lens relative to the negative.
E N LARGER

Path of light in a pinhole camera

A pinhole camera photograph

CAMERA comes from the Lati n phrase cam era obscura,

or dark cham ber, fo r a l l pictu re-taking i nstruments have
a dark chamber to protect the sens itive fl l m from light.
The simplest camera i s a l ight-proof box with a pinhole
in one end and a piece of fl l m on the opposite inside
wa l l . Light reaches the fl l m only when the pinhole is
uncovered, usually fo r a few secon d s .
U se o f a l ens instead o f a pinhol e a l lows m uc h m ore
light to pa ss th rough, and the same pi ctu re can be
ta ken in much sho rter time . If th e area of the lens is
1 ,000 ti m es as l a rge as the pi nh ole, th e pi ctu re which
requ i red te n sec ond s can be made i n 1 I 1 00 sec ond , an
average speed i n many mode rn cameras .
I n ad dition to a l en s a nd fllm, a ca mera u sua l ly ha s
a shutter, an adj usta b l e di aphrag m, a nd some ty pe of
fo cusing ad j ustment. The sh utte r preve nts l i g ht from strik
ing th e fl l m except when a pictu re i s be i ng made. A
mec ha n i s m op ens the shutter and closes it automatica l l y
afte r a length o f time . Cam era s h u tters m ay have
speed s from 1 0 seconds to 1 I 1 , 000 of a secon d . Some
cam eras take pictures at a m i l l ionth of a secon d, en
ab l i ng man to see the un seeab le. The d iaphrag m can be
ad j usted to ad mit va ry i ng amou nts of l i g h t each time
th e shutter is open . Th e fo cusing mecha n i s m m oves the
lens ba ck a nd fo rth to ach ieve a clear i mage .

79

THE SH UTTER of a camera

a l lows light from the subject
to enter the camera and strike
the film for a time. Shfltters
a re located either at the lens
or at the film. Lens shutters
are usually placed between or just
behind the elements of the lens
and usually have a set of leaves
that snap open for the des ired time
and then snap shut. Foca l plane
shutters are next to the film and
resem bl e a window blind with
slots cut in it. A modern ver s ion
has two curtai n s . As one moves
and uncovers the fi l m , the second
fol lows so closely that the open
ing between them i s a mere
slot. Exposure time is va ried by
ad justing the wi dth of the slot.

THE f- N U MBER of a lens refers

to the ratio of its diameter (d) to
its focal length (f). For example,
f I 8 refers to an aperture whose
diameter i s 1/s of the focal
length . A camera ' s lowest f
nu mber corresponds to its wide
open diaphragm and i s called the
speed of the len s . U s ing a lower
f-n u mber shorte n s the required
exposure time, but reduces the
depth of field ( p. 8 1 ). The dia
phragm is set to the h ighest f
n u m ber that can be u sed with a
g iven shutter s peed in order to get
maxi mum depth of field . Many
modern camera s have a built-in
photoelectric cell that selects auto
matically the lens opening for the
shutter s peed u sed.

The relation of the dicllltMI>ter

lens to its foc al
number. For exc:anJH;

f/3.5

the focal
times jt,l I!Mttt;t. ;.;...;

FOCUS i s achieved when l ight from a n object pas ses

th ro ug h a cam era len s and for ms a c lea r, acc urate i mage
on th e fil m or viewer . l ight ra ys from an o bject po int
diverge s l ightly as th ey ente r a camera . With a wide
open len s , the rays pass th rough a l l pa rts of the lens
and converge to th e i mage poi nt {below) . To foc u s the
camera, the d i sta nce fro m th e lens to th e fi l m is ad j usted
so that the point of co nvergence wi l l l i e at the fi l m s u r
fa ce- not be fo re or be h i n d it. I t i s i m pos s i b l e to focus
all po ints of a three-d i mens i onal scene on the film at
th e same ti m e, but a satisfactory sharpness can usua l ly
be ac hieved ove r a con sidera bl e de pth of th e scene.
Adj u stment i s most critical when foc u s i ng on a nearby
ob ject wi th a wide-open len s . It is l east c r i tica l for a
di stant object with the sma l lest len s open i ng . The ac
cu racy of th e foc u s i ng may be j u dg ed by o bserv i ng
th e sharpness of the i mage on a tran s l ucent g l a s s su rface
in reflex-type cameras or by super i m pos i n g two images
in a ra ng efi nder in some other camera s .
DEPTH O F FIELD i s the depth of
a scene that is i n focus on the
camera ' s fi l m . A large lens aper
ture allows on l y a limited depth
to be in focu s . The rest of the

scene i s fuzzy. With a smaller

open ing, the cone of l i ght rays
from lens to film converges and
diverges less. Both near and dis
tant objects a re i n better focus.

obj ect points

<--- .

81

standard light
source

I I ' 4- t-i .. .

\'
fr

t-1-+ -

'1

sample l ight

source
I
..... .. . .. ..; I I I

\ dWK
I;,g
I
\

.,
I

...,
\
\

pamt""

(white mat surface

on both sides)

\ I
\ I

observer
In this simple photometer, identical white surfaces are illuminated by
the two different light sources being compared .

PHOTOM ETE RS are i n stru ments for comparing the in

ten sities of two light sources which have approximately
the same hue. The two sources are arranged so that
they i l l u m inate adjacent parts of the same vi sual field,
usually a screen . One of the l ight sources is then moved
closer or farther away unti l the two parts of the screen
match i n brightnes s . The average observer can make
such a match with an error of l ess than two per cent. One
l i g ht source i s u sua l l y a standa rd lamp o f known i nten sity,
so the i n tensity o f the other source i s measu red i n
terms of t h e standard o n e . Another type of photomete r
compares t h e shadows c a s t by two adjacent l ight sources
and g ives s i m i l a r i n formation . Lig ht-bu l b manufacturers
u se photometers to test thei r prod uct. Astro nomers use
them to m ea sure the l ight intensity of stars .

82

sample
source
.,
"'ii
:.c

...
-

.!121

.s:.

standard sour ces

( c ontrol lable intensities)

- Both sides of the divided screen are viewed simu ltaneou sly i n this
colorimeter to determine the sample ' s color characteri stic s .

a re instruments designed t o measure

color chara cteri stics other th an i n tensity . I n one type, one
part of a divided field i s i l l umi nated by l ight from the
sou rce bei ng stud ied; the other part by a m i xture of l ight
from th ree standard sources, each of a d i fferent hue
(p. 1 0 1 ) . By a d j usting the amounts of l ight from the
standard sources, the operator can match the two parts
of the field so that they look exactly a l ike. Someti mes
one of the standard sources must be u sed on the same
part of the field with the test source, ach ieving the match
with the oth er two standa rd sources. No more tha n th ree
standard sources are ever req u i red .
S i m p l e color match ing with indicator chemica l s i s a
part of chemical analysis. Th is type of colorimeter i s
m o r e properly ca l l ed a c o l o r comparator.

COLORIMETE RS

83

SEE IN G LI G H T AN D C OLO R

Th e eye is ofte n com pa red to a ca mera . It has a lens

th at produces a n inve rted image on the reti na, whose
surface is sensitive to l i g ht j ust as fi l m i s . In front, the
ey e has an i r i s th at changes th e size of the pu p i l , pe r
fo rm ing the same fu nction a s th e diaphrag m of a cam
era . Th e pu pil is simply th e hole in the i r i s through
wh ich l ight enters the eye . As its s i ze changes, the
pu pi l adm its m ore or less l i g ht as need ed , de pend ing
on th e a mount of i l lum ination p resent. Th is ada ptation
by the i ris to the level of i l l u m i nation i s continued by
th e retina ( p . 8 6 } .
A ray o f l i g ht entering th e eye pa sses through the
transpa rent cornea, the aqueous humor, the lens, a nd
th e vitreous humor. A l l help focus th e l ight befo re it
str i ke s the rods a nd cones, wh ich a re p hoto receptors
located on th e reti na . Her'e i s where the a ctu al process
of see i ng beg i ns. The grea te st bend i ng o f l ight rays oc
curs at th e fi rst surface of the cornea .
A g roup of l igaments and m u scles automatica l ly c.o n
tro l the shape of the lens to bring objects at d i fferent
d i sta nces i n to focus on the r.eti n a . Th i s p rocess i s called
accommodation ( p . 6 8 } . As one gets older, the lens
g radua l l y loses its flex i b i l ity, and the a b i l ity to accom
modate decreases .
AS OBJECT COMES CLOSER , SHAPE OF
LENS CHANGES FROM THIS
.

84

HORIZONTAL
CROSS SECTION
OF THE RIGHT EYE

vitreous humor

THE LENS is su pported by a sus

pensory l igament that holds it
in ten sion with i n the encircling
cil iary muscles. When relaxed, the
ciliary muscle holds the ligament
taut, and the lens i s flattened
for viewing distant objects. When
focusing on nearby objects the
muscle contracts, loosening the

. . . TO T H I S

suspen sory ligament to let the

lens assume its natural bulging
shape. Thus the lens i s thin for
viewing distant objects ( p . 8 4 ,
bottom) and becomes thicker to
focu s on near ones ( below ) . It is
impossible to have near and dis
tan t objects in sharp focus at
the same time.

c i l iary m us cles

rays from
nea r obj ect

85

i s the eye ' s sensitive i n ner su rface. It i s a

com p l ex system of nerve end ings fo rmed o f two kinds
of l i ght-sensitive cel l s : rods a nd cones, named for the
shapes of thei r tips . The rod s are most numerous and
predomi nate near the edges of the reti na . Cones are
interspersed with the rod s, but nea r the center of the
retina is an area cons i sti ng a l most enti rely of cones.
Th i s i s th e yel low spot ( macula l utea ) with a smal l
depression ( fovea centra l i s ) in its middle. Di stinct vision
occurs only for the part of the i mage that fa l l s on the
fovea , and s i nce th i s covers an a ng l e only s l ightly larger
than one degree, an object may be " seen " in deta i l
only b y scan ning it. A t t h e fovea, e a c h cone i s connected
to its own optic nerve fiber. E l sewhere in the retina,
which conta i n s some 1 1 5 m i l l ion rods and 7 m i l l ion cones,
. a bout 8 0 receptors are connected to a s i n g l e nerve fiber.
E l ectrical i m pu l ses from the rod and cone cel l s travel
a l ong the optic nerve to the optic lobe of the b ra i n , where
the menta l pictu re of the scene is regi stered .
THE RETINA

COLOR V I S I O N ( cone ce l l s ) does

not operate at very low levels
of i l l umi nation . By moon light,
hues van ish, a nd only shades of
gray rem a i n . U n l i ke the co nes,
the rod s can ada pt to very dim
li ght by in creasing their sen
sitivity. They th u s prov ide a
coarse but useful vis ion even
by starligh t. U nde r such condi
tions you may detect an obje ct
ou t of the corner of your eye
( rod v ision ) that ca nnot be seen
when you look directly at it.
The rods sense o n ly brightness.
Cones sense both brig htness and
hue. Rod vision i s much more
sens itive to fl icker and motion
than is cone vision.

86

THE V I S U A L I M PU LS E i s p ro
duced by the chang ing of visual
pu rpl e ( rh odo ps i n ) to retinene.
Rhodops in undergoes che m ical
ch a nges u nder the i nfluence of
light photo n s tha t res u l t in bleach
ing of the rhodopsin to pale
yellow retinene. The strength of
the brightness sen sation depend s
on the rate of b leach i ng.
Since sensitivity of the rods
depends on the amount of visual
purple present, its regeneration
must be fast and sufficient. This
regeneration occurs most rapidly
i n the dark and is related to the
amount of vitamin A p resent.
Lack of vitamin A reta rd s regenera
tion, c au s i n g n i gh t blindne s s .

reaches the photochem ical

ends of the rods and cones only after pas s i n g th rough
the network of nerve ce l l s a nd gang l i a that lies a bove
the m . These tip ends of the rods and cones are e mbedded
in a layer of epith e l i u m conta i n ing pigment gran u l e s that
optica l ly i sol ate the rod s and cones . The gang l i a above
these layers sort visual i m p u l ses, a n d the ne rve fi bers
tra n s m i t them to the bra i n .
LIGHT ENTERING THE EYE

STR U CT U R E OF RETINA,
head - on v iew ( ri ght) and
secti ona l view ( below), cen
tered on the fovea.

l ight

pigment layer

i s the most importa nt nerve o f the

eye because it carries visual signals to the bra i n . Various
motor nerves operate muscles contro l l i n g the m ovem ent
of the eyeba l l and upper eyelid and the th ickness of the
lens. The optic nerve i s a thick bundle of nerve fibers
connected to the rear of the retina at a spot s l ightly
off-center towa rd the nose. No rods or cones cover this
spot so it i s i nsensitive to l ight. To detect th i s bl ind
spot close the left eye and stare at the black dot at
the lower left corner of th is page, holding the page
about 1 8 i nches from the nose . Move the page a round
ti l l the dot in the lower rig ht-hand corner (p. 8 9 ) becomes
invisible. The left-hand dot wi l l disappea r i f you look
with the left eye only at the right-hand dot. No blind
spot i s a pparent with both eyes open, because the fields
of vision overlap.
The optic nerve from each eye leads to the visual area
of the bra i n at the extreme back of the head . I n j u ry
to th i s a rea can cause b l i ndness . In front of this region,
in areas that a re poorly defined, complex visual asso
ciation takes place.
The optic nerve fi bers from the right eye appear to
lead to the left side of the bra in; those from the left
eye seem to go to the right side of the bra i n . Where they
cross is the optic chiasma. Actua l ly there is not a com
plete cro s s i ng that affects all the nerve fibers but an
interm ixing. Nerves from the right ha l f of the reti na of
both eyes go to the right half of the bra i n and record
the l eft h a l f of the field of vision .

THE OPTIC NERVE

88

VISUAL F I ELDS An obj ect

in the right h a l f of the
visual field reg isters on
the l eft h a lf of ea ch retina
and i n the l eft s ide of the
bra i n . In the d iagram ,
co lored ova ls represent
overlappi ng visua l field s .
The round, darker cen
tra l a rea i s the v i s ual field
of the fovea of the reti na.
Areas seen by a single
eye ( monocular field s ) a re
shown in l i ghter colors.

retina
THE OPTIC C H I ASMA,
where nerve fibers from
the inner sides of the
retina cross over to the
opposite hemisphere of
the brain, is just behind
the eye s . N erve fibers
from the outer sides of
the retina also pas s through
the optic chiasma, but
rmain on outer optic
pathways.

THE V I SUAL CENTERS of

the bra i n are at the rear of
the right and left lo bes. I n
fo rm ing a menta l p icture,
an object o n an ind iv idual ' s
right stim u la tes cel l s i n
t h e left lobe.
based on Ciba Collection of Medical
Illustrations by F. Netter, M. D. CIBA

projection
on left
lobe

projection
on right
lobe

89

i s the most ve rsati le of all rad iation

detectors. With i n th e reti na of th e eye a chemical re
spo n s e to radi ation i s tra n s l ated i nto elec tri cal pul ses .
Th ese very weak el ectrical mes sages trave l al mos t in
sta ntaneo u s l y to the brain al ong the optic nerve fibe rs .
Th e sensation of sight occ urs in the bra in . B eca use o f
psycho log ical factors, the qual i ty of visua l sen sations
can not be tra n s lated i nto phys ical da ta and th ere i s no
way to compare the visua l sen sation s of diffe re nt peo ple
with acc uracy . Wha t you see i s fo r the m ost pa rt sub
jec tive -who l ly with i n the m i nd , a nd th erefore usually
no t m ea s urab le.
With i n your bra i n , other bod i l y sensations-ta ste,
touch, smel l , and sou nd-are a uto matica l ly correl a ted
with the visual one. The bra i n compares the resu l t with
remem bered sensations from past experience, mod ifies
them accord i n g to you r attitude and i ntent, and then
produces i n you r conscious m i nd i n formation a bout what
yo u see. Th i s i n formation constitu tes you r perception
or awa reness o f ob jects . You r perception may be correct
or incorrect, depending i n part upon attitudes and ex
perience. An i l l u sion is a fa u l ty perceptio n cau sed by
some u n u s u a l presentation of th e scene or by some
pre j ud ice o r emotion of th e observer. H e may o r may
not be awa re that th e scene i s not what it appears to be .
The sight of a n object g ives i n formation about its
size, shape, color, texture, location, and motion . Just
how these features can be determ i n ed from the l ight
emitted or reflected from an obj ect and its s u rro undings
i s a major problem i n psychology. The phys i c a l processes
of seeing are fa irly wel l u nderstood , and c u r rent research
i s provi d i ng an swers to the physio logy o f vision . Much
rem a i n s to be lea rned about the psychological a spects
of an individua l ' s perceptio n .
THE HUMAN EY E

90

a re affected by
several kinds of cues wh ich are noted a utomatica l ly a nd
ofte n uncon s c iously. You u se such cues a s convergence,
superposition, e l evation , brightness, d i sti nctness, a nd
kn own size to place objects m en ta l l y near or fa r i n a
scen e. Th ese sa me cues l end a pa rtial fee l i ng o f real ity
to ordi nary two-d i me nsiona l pi ctures a nd are effective
even wh en one eye i s c losed.
DISTANCE,

D EPTH

AND

CO N V ERGENCE of l ines i s fre

quently a u seful cue in the j udg ing
of di stances. D ista n t objects form
sma l l e r images on the retina of
the eye than do nearby objects.
The prob lem is to determi ne
whether a particu la r object is
sma ll and clos e by, or l arge an d far
awa y. In a picture, the convergence

MOTIO N

of l in es may indicate rece s s ion from

a v iewer. Parallel lines of a high
way seem to meet at the horizon.
Every artist knows he must draw
them th is way to make them look
real . The a rt of making a th ree
dimensional scene appear real on
a two-d imensional su rface 1s
cal led perspective.

l eft

Lines often converge i n two di

rections i n perspective drawings.

I
SU PERPOS ITION, known olso as
overlay, i s a powerfu l depth
cue. When one object overlaps
another and partially obscures
it, then the first object appears
to be nearer. I n the i l l u stration
above, the jack seems c loser

t o t h e camera. The a ctua l a r

rangement i s shown at the right.
Simply changing the angle of
view dis closes the true position,
with the clipped queen actually
closer to the camera than the
jack.

ELEVATION is a nother depth cue.

I n a picture of a landsca pe, the
horizon i s always h igher than the
foreg round. Objects that are
higher or farther from the bottom
of the picture always appear to
be a g reater di stance away. I n

the pictures be l ow, el eva tion

ma ke s the tree at the ri gh t seem
fa rther away and l arger than the
tree to the l eft. The buil di n g ap
pea rs larger in the picture to the
left, but both trees and bu i ld ings
are the same size.

BR IGHTN ESS D I FFEREN CES may

give a false depth cue. This
can be demonstrated easily, as
in the i l lu stration here. When
other distance cues are carefu l l y
concealed, t h e apparent relative
distance of two playing cards
depends on their i l l u mi nation .
The card that is given more il
lumination and seems brighter
than the other appears to be the
nearer. Both cards, however, are
actua lly the same d istance from
the viewer.
D I ST I NCTNESS-or sharp edges
and clear deta i l s - a lso implies
closeness. Haze and fog enhance
the appearance of depth . They
make distant objects less distinct
than those nearby, and some
not-so-distant
objects
become
blurred . This tends to compress
the scale of di stances. Sometimes
i n a fog nearby objects appear
unnaturally large ( right) because
the viewer unconsciously compares
them to what he believes a re
more distant objects.
Distinctness is a ffected also by
a factor inherent in the lens of
the eye and also in the lenses of
camera s . When the lens is fo
cused on a particular object,
anyth ing nearer or farther away
will be s l ightly out of focu s .
T h i s effect is m i n i m i zed in a
photograph taken with a very
small lens open ing ( p. 8 1 ) Ob
jects of equal distinctness are
then judged to be equally distant,
if other cues are absent. The
loss of perspective in such cases
i s shown here i n the photograph
making it appear that the pole
i s growing out of the g i rl ' s head.
.

KNOWN ( OR IMAGI N E D ) SIZE

of objects is p robably the most
important cue to di stance. When
a card is placed in a spotlight
in a darkened room , a v iewer es
timates its di stance based on his
prior knowledge of the card ' s
size. I f a larger card is then
substitu ted, he changes his esti
mate in d i rect proportion to the
change in the card ' s size. Photo
graphs that exaggerate the size
of flsh employ the association of
depth perception with size de
termination . In the a bove illus
tration, the size of the hand and
of the man are cues to the size
of the flsh. First cover the hand
and then the man. The flsh will
fi rst a ppear larger, then smaller.

MOTI O N PARALLAX accou nts

for the apparent motion of ob
jects seen from a moving car. I f
you stare a t o n e obj ect some dis
tance from the side of the road,
the trees beyond it seem to be
mov ing forward in the same di
rection as the car, but tele
phone poles near the road move
back the other way . The whole
scene appears to rotate about
the object on which you flx your
gaze. Th i s i s s hown below. The
person is moving from A to B . The
post a ppears to move backward,
the tree forward. The same ef
fect is obtained by turning your
head. I t i s an important factor
m
the visual perception of
distance.

to depth perception req u i re the

cooperation of both eye s . Al l the cues menti oned so
fa r are monoc u l a r cues -that is, they can be seen with
either eye a l o n e .

BINOCULAR

CUES

B I NOCU LAR VISION produces a

kind of station a ry paral lax-a
very s l ight difference in the
appearance and apparent location
of objects becau s e your eyes view
objects from s l ightly different
positions .
For o bj ects nearer
than about 1 00 feet, the i mages
formed in the l eft and right eyes
are, in fact, s l ightly different
views. The mind interprets th i s
difference in terms of depth, e n
hancing y o u r perception of a rea l ,
three-dimensional scene in stead
of a flat, two-d imensional pic
tu re. Binocular parallax is the
major factor i n the space per
ception of n ea rby objects. This
effect i s totally lacking in ordi
nary pictu res, but occurs in the
images that you see in m irrors .
For very close objects the mus
cular effort of converging your

eyes on the point of focus gives

you another indication of the
distances of objects.
A stereo camera i l l u strates bin
ocular vision. I t has two lenses
separated by the same distance
as between the eye s , about 2 112
inches. The two pictures obtained
with a stereo camera are s l ightly
d ifferent and correspond to the
views seen by the right and left
eye s . I f the pictures a re a rranged
so that the left eye sees only the
picture taken by the left lens and
the right eye only the picture
taken by the right lens, the ap
pearance of d e pth i s p roduced.
To get a stereo view of the pic
tures shown below, hold a piece
of paper or cardboard between
your eyes so that you v iew the
left and right pictures with the
correspond ing eye.

Th ese two pictu res were made with a stere o ca m e ra .

95

occur when our perception i s d i s torted by

an u n u sua l or deceptive presenta tion of an object or by
some pre j ud ice or emotion a bout it. O u r fa ith in the
usual accuracy of our visual percepti ons i s strong enough
to support the adag e : " Seeing i s be l i eving . " But we are
often foo l ed by our eyes . What we see is strong ly
infl uenced by what we think we see or by what we wan t
t o see.

ILLUSIO N S

o....___--0
0
0

The two lines are of equal

length but placing the cir
cles farther out makes the
upper l i n e appear longer.

An e l l iptical frame may

appear c i rcu lar because
shading and perspec
tive lead you to expect
it to be circular.
In distorted Ames ' room ( below)
the left cotner of the room is
much farther away than the right.

Both men a re about the same

height. A floor plan reveal s 1n
part how i ll u sion was c reated.
floor

of

plan

Ames ' room

front

Concentric circles appear to make

a spiral ( right). Even when the
observer i s i n formed that this is
an i l l u s ion, he is unable to see
it otherwise. A d ra ftsman ' s com
pas s can be used to prove that
all arcs have a common center.

The two horizontal lines ( below)

are parallel, but the arrangement
of the other l i nes makes the hori
zontal lines seem to pull apart
at the center.

I ndentations appear as depressions

( l eft below) and as rai sed sur
faces ( right be l ow) because the

observer interprets the light as

coming from above. The photos
a re identica l ; one is inverted.

97

Raindrops change sun light into a

primary rainbow by refraction and
by a s i ngle reflection of the rays
with in each d rop. Th i s action
makes visible the colors already
present in the light.

I n side the water d roplets of a

secondary bow, the light rays are
reflected twice, reversing the
order of the spectrum. A viewer
sees each color at a different
angle relative to the s u n .

THE NAT U RE OF COLO R

I n 1 6 30 the French phi losopher Desca rtes attributed the

color of an object to a change i n the light when i t is
reflected from the object. Unti l that time it had been
thought that l i ght had no color; th at color belonged to
objects and that l ight merely made it vi s i b l e . The mod
e rn concept o f color fo l lows Descarte s ' poi n t o f view.
Color, l i ke l ight, i s a psychophysical con cept, d epending
u po n both rad iant energy ( the phys i c a l stimu l u s } and
visua l sensations (the psycholog ical respo n s e } . Color and
l i g ht are closely re lated terms. By defin i tio n , color in
c l udes all a s pects of l ight except variation s i n time and
space. For example, the d i stribution of s u n l ight and
shadows on a lawn i s not concerned with the color of
the l i g ht . N o r does the fl i c kering of a ca nd l e flame
change the color of the light.
98

i s one a spect of your v i s u a l experi en ce when yo u

look at an ob ject. The color you see depe n d s on the i n
ten s i ty a nd wavelengths of the light tha t i l l u m i n ates
the object, on the wa ve l engths of l i g ht r efl ected or
tra ns m i tted by the object, on the col o r of the surrounding
objects, and o n a bsorption or reflection by substa nces in
the l ight path .
I n a space capsule, the sky appears black. From the
ground, it looks b l ue beca u se of scattering by atmospheric
parti c l e s . A cloud may be wh ite where the sun l ight i l
l u m i n ates it from a bove o r gray where s u n l ig h t d o e s not
strike d i rectly, o r it may possess any o f the hues of a
tropical s u n set. The cloud does not change color, but our
perception of i ts color changes.

COLOR

THE COLOR O F WATER va ries.

An observer flying over the F lori
da Keys m ig h t we l l see the ad
jacent ocean a reas as g reen,
blue-green, and blue. A photo
g raph, such as the one shown
at right, can captu re th is same
effect. Shallow, clear water with
a sa ndy bottom will produce a
l ight g reen because of the com
bination of the yel low reflected
from the bottom and the reflec
tion of the blue sky. As the water
gets deeper, it becomes blue
green because there i s more scat
tered blue light from the sky
and less yel low reflected from
the bottom . When the water is
very deep with no reflection from
the bottom , the water i s a deep
blue, pa rticularly noti cea ble in
the Gulf Strea m . At no time is
the color a property of the water.
It i s due to many causes and
i s best described as a charac
teristic of the light received by
your eye.

of color sen sation

are h ue , sa tu ration a nd brightness. Non e o f these is
directly meas urab le. Si nce m easurab l e ph ys i ca l as pec ts
do not acc ura tely specify color, the an swers must be
fo_und i n a combinatio n of th e two- th e psychophysica l
va ria ble s : do minant waveleng th , purity, a n d l u m i n ance.
The eye can not d i stinguish the com ponent wavel engths
i n a color sample. Two l ights of d i fferent colors when
m i xed prod uce a th i rd color, and no human eye can
detect its composite nature . Scienti sts working with color
try to pred ict the results of such color m ixtu res . They
aim to describe and measure colors as acc u rately as
possible. Th i s can be done for the physical part of color.
The energy di stribution of the l ight can be plotted as
shown below. But the color sensation of the observer
his respon se to the l ight ente ri n g his eyes -can not be
shown i n the same way.
TH E

PSYC H OLOGICAL

ASPECTS

low and monochromatic blue. The

EN ERGY at various wavelengths
is shown on the two graphs below. brain interprets this mixture as
A vertical solid line on each
white. If the intensities of the
represents the same green color daylight and the yellow and blue
(in rectangle), which is tinted with light are adjusted with the green
white light. In the left graph, the of the solid line to give the same
white is that of daylight, a light tint, the eye sees the same tint
mixture of many wavelengths. In of green in both cases, even
the right g raph, the white is a though the spectral compositions
combination of monochromatic yei- are quite different.
Energy
Energy
1 600

3 00

1 2 00

2 00

800

1 00

400

4000

5000

6000

Wavelength

A 7000 A

----=-:::-t
t
I

rt

I
t
I
I

4 000

! I

5000

6000

Wavelength

7000

HUE

SATURATION

pale magenta

BRIGHTNESS

.w hite
gray

The three types of color sensations

is the color sensation by which you d i sti nguish the

d i fferent parts o f the spectr u m - red , bl ue, g reen, yel low,
etc . The psychophysical va riable rel ated to h ue i s the
domi nant wavel ength of the l ight for each color. Most
l ight samples can be color-matched by adding the p roper
spectra l l y pure ( monochromatic ) l ight to wh ite l ight. For
these l ight samples there i s only one spectra l ly pure l ight
that wi l l g ive a perfect match . The wavelength of that
l ight i s ca l l ed the dominant wave length of the s a m p l e
and i s a mea s u rable quantity.
HUE

Twenty h u e s o f t h e some lightness and

saturation are shown here. U nder ideal con
ditions the human eye con distinguish wave
length d ifferences as small as 2 0 Angstro m s .
Thus a carefu l observer m i g h t divide the
v i s i ble spectrum into more than a hundred
d ifferent hues.
I n addition to the spectral hues, a series
of purples ( magentas ) , which ore non-s pectra l
hues, can be obtained by adding together
d ifferent amounts of light from the red and
blue ends of the spectru m .

Saturation of red from low at the left to high at the right.

SATURATION refers to the deg ree of hue in a color. I t

i s th e c o l o r sensation b y wh ich you distinguish a hue as
being pa l e or rich, wea k or stron g . Pink, for example,
usually d enotes a red of l ow satu ration, while scarlet
is a h i g h l y satu rated red .
PUR ITY i s the psychophysical
qual ity most closely related to
saturation . .The purity of a color
sample i s the ratio of the amount
of monochromatic light to the
amount of white light in a mix
ture requi red to match the sample.
Monochromatic light has 1 00 per
cent purity; white light has zero.
Colors of the same pur ity do
not all have the same saturation .
The two a re closely related but
not identical . Pure yel l ow, for ex
a mple, is much less satura ted

than
pure
violet.
lu m ina nce
(p. 3 2 ) also affects saturatio n .
Blues, reds, and purp les a ppear
mo re satura ted at low lumi nanc e .
Yellows a nd cyans ( blue-g ree n s )
need h igher luminance t o ac hieve
the same deg ree of saturatio n .
Afte r a certa in poi nt a n inc rease in
lum ina nce d ecreases saturation .
The two reds below are of the
same dominant wavelength but of
different pu rity and will appear
to be of the same hue but of
different saturation .

H IGH PU R I TY

l-s-ottrcl ti4)1)----L:__+---l

t--sefl:tt'Eti'fE)Il-'---t------f
i5

------7'------4

t------::1---------1

4 000 A

4 000 A

6000 A
Wavelength

1 02

LOW PURITY

6000 A
Waveleng th

SCALES of satu ration and hue are

combined here in a single diagram.
The color blocks in the circular
scale show how one hue blends
into another. Each hue has the
same lightness (p. 3 5 ) and satu ra-

tion . Color blocks in the s pokes

show gradations in satu ration
from zero at the center to a
maximum at the outer block. Other
spokes could be added, one s poke
for each hue in the circular scale.

BRIGHTNESS ( p . 3 2 } is the primary vi s u a l sensation by

which you detect the presence of l ight. It is a ssociated
with the qua ntity of the l ight and the inte n s i ty of the
visual sensation . Lumi nance, ea s i l y measured, is the
psychophysical va riable usua l ly associated with b ri g htnes s .
Although h ue, saturation, and brightness may be sepa
rately identified a s color sen sation va riables, they are
not i ndependent of one another. When one variable is
changed the othe r two a re often affected . Decreas i ng the
brightness, for example, can cause a change i n the satu
ration or even in the hue of the color.

1 03

red

red
blue

green
PSYCHOLOGIS T'S PRIMARIES

blue
ARTI ST ' S PRIMARIES

PRIMARY COLORS a re simply hues you sta rt with to m i x

others. Des i g na ting certa i n hues a s primaries i s a n
a rbitrary convention that depend s o n who makes th e
selection a nd whether l i g hts or object colors are u sed .
Bl ue, green, and red a re usua l ly u sed a s the physicist ' s
primaries i n light experiments . Howeve r, any th ree widel y
sepa rated monoch romatic colors can serve . The psycho
logical primaries are blue, green, red , and yel low, for
each seems to i nvoke a singular response which does
not invo lve any of the other colors. All other co lors may
be descri bed i n term s of these . The same color term used
by d i fferen t groups of people may, however, refer to
markedly d i s s i m i l a r colors.
Red, yel l ow, and blue a re the artist ' s primaries. By
mixing appropriate amounts of these pigm ents, a l most
any other hue can be produced . The a rtist _ i s dea l ing
with object colors; the physicist i s working with colored
l ig hts; the psycholog i st is interested in both .

Additive
red

PHYSI CIST' S PRIMARI ES

Subtractive

are any two hues which pro

duce white when m ixed together i n some proportion .
( " White" here refers to a n y h u e l ess, or achromatic, l ight.
At low l u m i na nce it wo u l d be ca l l ed g ray. ) Every hue
has a complementa ry hue. The two hues of a com ple
menta ry pa i r are widely separated i n the spectr u m . The
complement of red i s blue-green; the complement of ye l
l ow is blue. Compl ementaries of t h e g r e e n s are purples,
hues not found i n the spectru m .
M ixing o f complementary l ig hts does not prod uce inter
mediate hues. With proper adjustment of the i ntensities
of two complementa ry l i g hts, white l i ght i s obta i n ed .
Thu s white l ig h t can b e prod uced b y many combinations
of complementa ry l ights .
COMPLEM E NTA RY HU E S

The curve shows complementa ry

wavelengths for the standard ob
server . Perpendicu lars extended
to the two scales from any point

on the cu rve will reveal the

wavelength s of two complementa ry
hues. Complementaries to g reen
cannot be obtained from the graph .

Wavelength
6000 A
5500 A
6500 A
7000 A
4000 A ,--- .----.,.-,-------wr------,

perpendiculars
4250 A
L

0,
c::

Qj

(I)

4 5 00 A

4750 A

5000 A

1 05

may be achieved by either additive

or su btractive method s . The blending of colored l ights
from more than one sou rce i s add itive, wh i l e the pas
sage of l ight through success ive colored a bsorbers ( fi l ters)
i s subtractive . Pigment m ixing i s mainly su btractive even
thoug h paints a re added to one another. It is s u btractive
beca use pigmen ts absorb ( s u btract} some wavelength s of
the l ight stri king them and reflect the rema i n i n g wave
length s wh ich you see . Additive mi xtu res of red, g reen ,
and blue l ights of proper relative l u m i na nce prod uce
white where a l l overlap, and cyan, magenta, and yel low
where they overlap i n pa i rs ( below).
COLOR MI XTU R ES

A D D ITIVE COLOR M I X I NG i s ea s i l y accom p l i s h ed by

projecting pure ( monochromatic ) l i g hts from two or more
proj ectors onto a white screen. Each proj ector i s eq u i pped
with a set of fi l ters which perm it it to prod uce l ig h t of
any des i red wavel ength . When a beam of red l i g h t is
proj ected so that it overlaps a beam of yel low l ight
( 1 , a bove ) , the res u l t i s orange. I f the relative i n tensities
of the two proj ectors a re adju sted, it i s pos s i b l e to
change g rad u a l l y the hue of the m ixtu re from orange
toward either red or yel low. If the red light i s kept
constant and the yel low l ight made more g reen , the hue
of the m i xture becomes ye l lower ( 2 ) , and the satu ration
becomes less and less. Finally, a wave length i n the b l ue
g reen wi l l be reached at which the m ixtu re wi l l lose a l l
hue, beco m i n g a chromatic, or wh ite ( 3 ) . Th u s red a n d the
bl ue-green are comp l ementa ry hues. I f the va riable l ight
i s changed from b l u e-green to violet and the red sti l l
kept co nstant, a non-spectra l purple ( 4 ) res u l ts .

1 07

yel low
STATIONARY WHEELS

SPI N N I NG WHEELS

of m i xing co lors, i n add i

ti on t o using two or mo re c olored bea m s fro m separate
projectors ( p . 1 07), i n c l ud e the p laci ng of fi l ters i n ra pi d
success ion i n front of a s i ng l e proj ector. Th i s makes use
of the persi stence of vision -the retention of an image
fo r a fraction of a second after the sti m u l u s has ceased .
I mages presented i n rapid succession fuse i n to one another
to form a compos ite image. A simple device u s i ng this
effect i s the color wheel . By a d j u sting the size of the
col ored sectors and spinn i ng the wh ee l rapidly, d i fferen t
h ue s m a y be prod uced ( a bove) i n c l u d i n g neutral g ra y
( be low ). T h e h u e s a r e rather u nsatu ra ted a nd t h e l u minance
norma l ly is not sufficient to make the g ray seem ' ' wh i te. ' '

OTH ER AD DITIVE METHODS

STATIONARY WH EEL

1 08

SPI N N I NG WHEEL

I n the fal l when the leaves have

changed color, d istant views of
the landscape provide excel lent
examples of natural additive mix-

ing . The co lors of individ u a l leaves

fu se to give a single co lo r to a
tree, and fa rther away all t h e trees
blend i n to a sin gle hue.

i s the term u sed to describe the way

you r eye m ixes the colors of i ndivi d u a l l eaves i n a n
a utumn landscape, t h e dots of a c o l o r te l evision screen,
or the i n d ividual colors of sand g ra i n s o n a d i stant
bea c h . When there a re th ree or four point sources of
colored l ight widely separated , they a re focu sed sepa
rately on the reti na, and the eye sees them as d istinct
colors . Th i s sepa rate focu s i ng i s ca l l ed reso lving.
I f the point sources are moved c loser together, eventu
a l ly they wi l l a l l be focu sed with i n the same group of
rods and cones on the reti n a . They cannot be resolved
any longer, but are seen as a single a rea even though
they are d i stinct poi n t sources. The color sen sed i s a
mixed color, i ts h ue depending on the spectra l q u a l i ties
of the colors o f which it i s composed.
I f you i n c rease the resolving power of you r eye by
exa m i n i ng a s ma l l area of a page of colored comic
strips u nder a hand lens, you will see that there a re
n u m erou s dots o f diffe rent hues. Without the l e n s , ad
jacent dots b l e nd together and form a s i n g l e h u e .
MOSAIC FUS I ON

1 09

occu rs whenever l ight

passes through two or more selectivel y a bsorbing mate
ria l s . Dyes , and a l so pigments, may be mixed together
to form a single coloring agent ( colorant) that wi l l pro
duce selective a bso rption. Sepa rate fi l ters which are
traversed by the l ight i n a ny order a l so cause s u btractive
color m i x i n g . Even su rface fi l m s from which the l ight is
successively reflected su btract l ight. The process i s ca l l ed
" su btractive" beca use the fi l m s or fi l ters su btract certa i n
portions of t h e s pectrum from t h e i ncident l ig h t, l eaving
the rema inder with a hue com pl ementary to that sub
tracted. A piece of glass wh ich absorbs the blue and
green wavel engths of wh ite light a ppea rs red becau se it
transm its on ly the longer wavel eng th s . I f the g l a s s absorbs
the green , i t tra n s m i ts a m i xture of red and blue
magen.ta .
At each wave length, the fi l ter obeys the law of ab
sorption ( p . 5 1 ) . The fi l ters not only change the color
of the l i g ht, but they reduce its intensity . I f addi
tional fi l ters of the same type and thickness are
placed i n the l ight path, each wi l l a bsorb the same
fraction of the l ight. That is, i f one th ickness tra ns
m its 1h of th e l ight, two th icknesses wi l l tra n s m i t 1/4 ,
S U BTRACTIVE COLOR M I X I NG

Examples of su btractive color

mixing are shown below with
pain ts ( pigments) and filters .
In the former the colors that

F I LTERS

PIGMENTS

Yel low

Crimson +

are not absorbed are reflected

from the s u rface. I n filters the
colors not absorbed are trans
mitted th rough the filter.

Yel low

W H ITE LIGHT, represented by

its red, blue, and green compo
nents, i s shown entering various
combinations of fi lters from the
left. Severa l combinations of yel
low, cyan and magenta filters
are shown . Each i ndividual filter

a l lows all but one of the colors

entering it to pa s s . Each pair
o f filters (as in A , 8 , and C ) allows
a different pa rt of the wh ite light
to pass th rough . I n the last ex
ample ( D ) , n o light pa sses the
th i rd filter.

three thicknesses w i l l transmit 1/a , and so on . When a

fi l ter con s i sts of a colorant disso lved i n a solvent, dou
bl ing the concentration of the colora n t i s equiva l ent to
dou b l i ng the thickness.
The appearance of a colored fi lter may give l i ttle
i ndication of its spectra l a bsorption c u rve. Two fi lters
that appear identical may transmit l i g h t of d i fferent
colors wh en combi ned with another colo r ed fi l ter.
The artist who i s fa m i l iar with h i s paints can more
eas i l y pred ict the res u l ts of his m ixtu res . H e knows that
mixing Tha lo B l ue, Alizarin Crimson, and white in the
proper proportions w i l l produce lavender. For h i m , sub
tractive color m i x i n g i s a matter of experience.
1 00 %

- - - 1 00 %

fi lter

fi lter

fi lter

a bso rption
curve
l ight

3 4
fi lter thicknesses
l

1 1 1

i s the physical process of adjust

i ng a color mi xture until it a ppears to be visually the
same as a sample color. The manufacturers of pa i nts and
dyes, of textiles a nd plastics, of toys and cars, and
of books and maga zines, a s wel l a s those wh o print
color film, are vita l l y concerned with g ood color matc h i ng .
E ith &r ad ditive m ixi ng o f colored l i g h ts o r subtra cti ve
mi xing u s i ng fil ters m ay be uti l i zed to achieve a color
match . Any color of the spectru m can be ma tc h ed by the
addition of monoc h romatic l ight to wh i te light. Purple,
a m i xture of red and viol et, i s not a col or of th e s pec
trum and cannot be matched by th i s m ethod bec ause it
lac ks a s ing l e dom i nant wavel ength . But a pu rp l e color
can be identified by the wave length of its c om plem enta ry
color . Light of th i s color mixed with purple l ight prod uces
a colorless l ight.
V ari ous col or matc hing system s (p. 1 2 5 ) a nd co lor
i m ete rs ( p . 8 3 ) are ava i lable. Color stan da rd s - sets of
color pa tches arra nged system atica lly for v isua l com pa ri
son -are ofte n preferred to colorimete rs . Color standa rds
and colori m eters can be cal i b rated i n s i m i lar un its and
da ta can be conve rted from one syste m to the other.
COLO R MATC H I NG

C OLOR CHARTS are useful tools

i n the matc h i ng of co lors. Print
ers use co lor charts that give
i n numbe rs or percentage the dot
value of different i nks that is
requi red to reproduce a given
color. T he co lor squares that
provide this information usually
have punched holes so that the
color in a square can be eas i ly
compa red to the color in the
i llustra tio n to be rep roduced.

I n old color vision tests,

the testees sorted wool
skeins by hue, trying to
select a l l skeins that
accurately matched
large one.

i s an everyd ay term refe rr i ng to a ny

pron ou nced deviation fro m norm a l color vi sion. Th e th ree
major forms of color a bn orma l i ty a re a no m a l o u s tric hro
ma ti s m (a less s evere depa rture from norm a l vi sion ), di
chromatism (partia l co lor bl i ndness ), and monoc hro ma ti sm
(complete c olor bl i ndness ) .
T h e norm a l observer, known a s a trich romat, c a n match
any color with one, two, or three col ored l ights . Under
contro l l ed con d i tions, most tric h romats wi l l use about
the same combi nation of sel ected l ights to match any
particu lar co l o r . An i ndividual who m u s t a rrive at his
color match i n a ma rked ly different way from the aver
age tri c h romat is said to have a bnorma l color v i sion .
Thi s i s u sua l ly an i n h erited defect. I t becomes evident
i n many school and home situations and i s confi rmed
when the i ndividual i s a s ked to match two colors or to
d i sti nguish between d ifferent hues.
The cause o f abnorma l color vision i s not fu l l y known .
There may be some d efect i n the cones of the reti na,
s i n ce it i s the cones that distinguish color. Th ere may
be too much or too l ittl e of essenti a l pigments i n the
eye . In ra re cases, the optic nerve between the eye and
the bra i n may not function properly.
About eight per cent of the male popu lation and less
than one per cent of females are born with defective
colo r v i sion . Ab no rm al color vis ion can a l so be acqu i red.

COLOR BLI N D NESS

1 13

color to be
m atched

color
matching by
anomalous
trich romat

observer
ANOMALOUS T R I C H ROMATISM
is found i n about three-fourths
of all people with abnormal co lor
v ision . An anoma lous trich romat
sees colors, but not normally.
H e can match any co lor with a
mixture of three colored lights,
but will requ ire d ifferent amounts
of these l ights than the norma l
observer. H e is poor at mixing
or match ing color s . If h is vis ion
i s green weak (the commonest
type ), he w i l l need more than
the norma l amount of green in
a green-red mi xture to match a
partic ular yellow. Other anoma
lous trichromats have red or blue
wea knesses.

MON OCHROMATISM, or com

p lete co lor blind ness, is very rare .
O n ly about one person in 30,000
is affl icted. In its typical in
herited form , equa l l y common in
men and women, the monoch romat
depends solely on rod vision .
Since h i s eye lacks the high reso
l ution of the foveal cones, his
visual acuity i s l ow . The mono
chromat is unable to di stinguish
any colors . H e can see on l y dif
ferences in brightness and can
match a l l lights with a single
l ight. Relative lumi nosity is his
only criterion a s shown i n the
comparison of normal and mono
chro matic spectra below.

Hue and saturation as viewed by a normal observer.

0
c:

4 5 00 A

5 000 A

5 5 00 A

6000 A.

6500 A

A typi cal monochromat ' s response to the same chart.

"'

"'

4 5 00 A

1 14

5 000 A

5 5 00 A

-
m

%
"""''

w
<

6000 A

6500 A

DICH ROMATISM occurs in about

2 per cent of wh ite males, but
i n only 0.03 per cent of fema les.
About one-qua rter of all people
with defective color vision are
dichromats . A dichromat can
match all colors with mixtures
of two primary lights rather than
the three used by a norma l
observer.
One common form of di
chromatism is red -green bli ndness
which permits the individual to
see o n ly two co lors -yel low and
blue. A neutral g ray is seen in-

stead of blu e-green an d pu rp le .

Da rk reds, g reen s, and grays
are confu sed, and sens itiv ity to
brig htness is dec rea sed by a bout
hal f. In a s im ilar, equal ly common
conditio n , a pe rson sees c o lors l i ke
the dich rom at but gets no re ac
tion at al l from the lon g-wavelength
end of the spectrum.
Sti l l rarer are those kinds ot
defective color vision in which a
person does not see yel low and
blue. These conditions may in
volve lack of sensitivity to short
waves.

HUE A N D SATURATION COLOR WH EELS

as seen by
dichromat with
red-green bli ndne ss
N ormal
Male
Feli"\o le

Carrier

Color
B l i nd

Generatio n
I N H E R I T E D COLOR B L I N D NESS
is a recessive condition . I f one
pa rent is normal an d the oth er
colo r bl ind, ch i ld re n wil l be nor
ma l but fema les will be ca rriers.
If a perso n ca rrying color bl ind
ness (tho ugh appe aring normal )
ma rr ies another carrie r, some
ch i ld ren wil l be col or blind and
oth e rs will be ca rr iers. The dia gram shows the passibi lities .
V

VI

Ill

1 15

D I C H RO M AT I C COLOR B LI N D
1 1 5 ) can be detected
n e ss ( p.
by the use of specia lly colo red
te st plates, each conta ining a
patte rn or number made of d ots
against a ba ckground of dots
of another color or gray . A
person with normal color v ision
can see the patterns . One with
defective color vision will find
some of the patterns confu s i ng
or absent because of h i s inabil ity
to distingu i s h the colors of which
the patterns a re made. At the
top of this page, two p lates used

1 16

to di sting uish red-g reen color

bl in dness from norma l v i s ion are
re prod u ced in their a pprop riate
colo rs . A pe rson hav i n g re d-green
co lor bl indn ess sees on l y g ray
dots . The type of plates repro
duced at the battom of the page
are used to diagnose blue-ye l low
defects . These reproductions ca n
not be emp loyed for va lid tests
because special i n ks and printing
tech niques must be used to ach ieve
the exact hues seen as g ray by
co lor-blind indiv id ual s . A doctor ' s
cha rts a re m ore accu rate .

are necess a ry to be sure that a l l testing

fo r color vision ta ke s place under sta ndard view i ng con
dition s . Th e i l l u m ination is important. For exam ple, the
results m ight d iffer depen d i n g o n whethe r the tests took
place u nder a rtifi cial l ight or in s un l ight.
Two color samples that a ppea r to match under i l l um i na
tion A may not match under i l l u m i nation B, even though
a normal observer says that i l l u m i nation A matches i l
l u m i nation B . T o avoid th i s d i ffi c u l ty, sta ndard l ight sources
( p . 1 7) a re u sed for i l l u m i nation of sa m p l e s . Under such
sta ndard l i g hting c onditions, a l l observers wou ld sti l l not
see th e same thing. But by averaging the visual charac
te ristics of many individuals, a composite ' ' standa rd ob
server' ' ha s been deve loped who a lwa ys sees things in
th e same wa y. The International Com mission o n I l l u mina
tio n (see p . 1 3 0 ) has devi sed a standa rd ob serve r of th i s
na tu re . This fi ctitious individual i s s i m p l y a set of vi sual
sen s itivity c u rves a nd energy d i str i bution d ata by which
th e re sults of color experiments can be ca l c u l a ted a nd
sta ndardized .
STANDARDS

1 .0
A luminous efficiency curve
shows the abil ity of dif
ferent
wavelengths
to
stimulate v i s i on . Thus it
is the spectra l sens itivity
curve for humans. Lumi
nous efficiency curves nor
mally fa l l betwee n the
l i mits s hown here ( cu rves
a and b). H umans ra rely
match exactly the curve
( c) of the fictitious stan
dard observer.

0.5

o
If
Q)

"'
::;)
0
c

::;)
.....

0.0

4000

6000

Waveleng th ( Ang stroms)

1 17

CO LOR PER CE PT ION

Color perception depends l argelx on h u m a n physiology.

Man has th ree vi sual pigments, each i n d i fferent cone
sha ped receptor cel l s . One pigment senses primarily blue
l ight, one primarily green, a nd one pri m a r i l y red. These
cone-shaped cel l s a re tig htly packed i n the foveal reg ion
but a re i nterm ixed with rod-shaped cel l s e l s ewhere in
th e retina . B ecause of these three pigments, man i s able
to d i s c r i m i nate among a wide range of colors . Thei r
presence wa s postu lated in 1 8 0 1 , but they have only
recently been identified with i n the reti na .
Previou s l y it was thought that the i m p u l ses from the
con es trave l ed three discrete pathways to the bra i n .
Evidence now indi cates that i m pu l ses from t h e three types
of receptor con es a re somehow combi ned into a coded
signal prior to transm ission from the eye to higher visual
centers in the bra i n . The combination ta kes place i n the
ganglion ce l l s , nerve cel l s located on the opposite s ide
of the reti na from the cone cel l s . Changes in wavel ength
or intensity of the color sti m u l u s change the patterns of
coded signa l s .

The three cone pigments

that sense blue, green, and
red have spectral sensi
bil ity cu rves with peaks
at 4 , 4 70 A ( b lue-vio let ),
at 5 ,400 A ( g reen ), and
at 5 , 770 A ( ye l low). Even
though the red receptor
pigment has its pea k in
the yellow, it extends
i nto the red so the brain
senses red.

1 00

-g_
0
.D 75
<(
0

c:

u
41

a...

1 18

25
0
4000 A

5000 A

6000 A

Waveleng th ( Ang stroms)

2
M ODES OF PER CEPTION
Co lor i s percei ved as be l ong ing
to a l i g h t source when the l ig h t
sou rce is included in t h e field o f
v i e w ( 1 ) . Th i s is ca l l ed t h e il
luminant mode of co lor pe rceptio n .

I n the illumination mode of color

perception, the light source is not
in the scene, but the d i rection
and qual ity of the light i s evi
dent from the pattern and contrast of the shadows ( 2 ) .

The object mode of color per

ception occurs when l ight i s dif
fusely reflected from an object,
and we perceive the color of the
surfa ce ( 3 ) . The color perceived
depends partly on nearby objects .
The volume mode of color per
ception occurs when light pa sses
through a tra n s l u cent or tra ns
parent substance such a s a col
ored liquid or glass ( 4 ) . I nternal
qualities predominate rather than
the su rface ones.
The funda menta l or aperture m ode
of co lor perception occu rs if an
object is vi ewed through an
ope n ing tha t exc ludes the sur
roundi ngs ( 5 ) . S im plest and most
eas i ly reprod uced , th is method
is often used in ex perimenta l work .

Colors of objects appear differ

ent under different illumination
even though to the observer the
lights appear to be the same.
White incandescent light i llumi-

nates objects on left. Complemen

tary red and blue-green sources,
which appear white to the ob
server, produced the illumination
on the right.

is a term u sed to descri be the

ab i l ity of the h uman eye to com pens ate fo r o rd inary
cha nges i n i l lum ina tion and viewing con d i tion s tha t affect
th e color of a parti c u l a r object.
You can tel l the c olor of a n object by looking at it
u n der white light. U nder a d ifferent i l l u m ination you
may sti l l be able to tel l the coJor of the object, but
perhaps not so easi ly. Light a nd color reflected from
the object may vary g reatly with changes in i l l u m i nation .
A yel low book in the sunl ight reflects relatively much
more blue l ight than does the same book under a n incan
descent lamp, but our eyes have l ittl e trouble i n recog
nizing th e same book and th e same object color. Th is
is col o r constan cy. Becau se of th i s re ma rka b l e property
of h uman vision, you recogn ize a nd identify objects in
spi te of wide l y differen t con d i tions of i l lum ina ti on . C olor
con sta ncy is evi dentl y a form of eye a da ptation to th e
preva i l ing i l l um inati on . The eye adapts s i m i larly to changes
m brightnes s (p. 3 2 ).

COLOR CONSTANCY

1 20

The blue patches in each of the fou r rectangles a re the same size
and color. They appear to be different, however, beca use of simul
taneous contrast between them and the colors around them.

i nc rea ses wh en two c olors are plac ed side

by s ide. Th eir d ifference seem s exaggerated . I f an orange
is presented n ext to a yel l ow, for i n sta nce, th e orange
wi l l appear redder a nd th e ye l l ow gree ner. This i s s i m u l
ta neou s c o l o r contrast, wh ich acco unts fo r th e fi n e d i s
cri m i nation of t h e h uman eye in colo r matc h i ng . Two
colo rs that seem to be iden tica l whe n viewed separately
wi l l o ften be found qu ite d i fferen t if p resented side by
side .
A s i m i l a r effect ( successive color contrast) occurs 1 t
t h e s a m p l e s a re presented one after t h e o t h e r in q u i c k
succession . These two effects ( si m u ltaneo u s a n d successive
contrast) a re related . In color match i n g , you r gaze moves
rap idly bac k a nd fo rth from one sa m p l e to the other
when you view them side by side. All your seeing is
done with a natura l sca n n i ng motion, and n ever with
a completel y fi xed gaze. B oth effects enhance the con
tra st between colors of d ifferent hue, ca u s i ng each to
move towa rd the complementary of the other.
CONTRAST

1 21

effects occur not o n l y when

two s a m p l es are diffe rent i n hue, b ut a l so when the sam
p l es are ident ical i n hue but differ in saturation ( above ) .
The i r difference i n satu ra tion i s accentu ated , a n d the one
of lower saturation on the right tend s to acqu i re th e
complementa ry hue.
When two l ig ht sources, one wh ite and one of any
hue, p roduce sepa rate sh adows of th e same obj ect, then
each s hadow i s i l l u m i nated by one of the l ig h ts - the one
not producing the shadow . The backgrou nd i s i l l u m i nated
by both of them a n d appea rs in the hue and saturation
of the combi n ed i l l u m ination. Under such conditions, th e
two s h adows wi l l tend to appear complementary to each
oth er. The wh i te-i l l u m inated shadow on the l eft ( below)
actua l l y a ppears magenta i n contras t with the g reen
i l l u m in ated s hadow on the right. Th i s i s a n i n teresti ng
exam p l e of s i m ultaneous color contrast.

S IMULTANE OUS CONTRAST

i s the visua l sensation observed afte r

a l ight sti m u l u s has been removed .
A negative afterimage i s a phenomenon that i s caused
essenti a l l y by fati g u e in some part of the visual sys
tem . As you r eyes adapt to a parti c u l ar color there is
a dec rease in the i r sensitivity to that color. When you r
gaze i s s h i fted to a neutra l area, an afterimage a ppears
which is complementa ry to the origi n a l sti m u l u s . Th i s is
ca l l ed a negative afterimage.
Hold th i s book at reading dista nce and stare at the
c ross in the green c ircle ( above) . Then look at the dot
to the l eft. You wi l l see a magenta ring. Look at the
c ross in the red c irc le ( be l ow) and the n a t the dot to its
right to see a green negative afterimage.
A positive afterimage i s a far more fleeti ng experi
ence and d iffic u lt to produce. One way is to stand in
bri l liant s u n l ight with you r eyes closed and furth er cov
ered by you r hand . Remove your hand and gaze q uickly
( fo r a bout 2 o r 3 seconds) at either of the c i rc les on thi s
page ( wa rn i ng : do n o t l o o k at t h e s u n ! ) . C l o s e you r ey s
im mediate l y and you may get the i m pression tha t you
a re seeing a circ le of the same color behind you r eye
l i d s . This positive afterimage wi l l seldom last longer tha n
5 to 1 0 seconds. It i s cau sed by th e persi stence of color
vision .

A N AFTERIMA GE

1 23

neither pos i tive nor nega

tive, a re seen if you look steadily at an u n s haded light
b u l b . After a few seconds, put out the l ight. For a short
time afterward, as you sit in the darkness , you wi l l
see a succession o f varying bright colors . These colors
have no apparent rel ationship to the wh ite l ight stimu
lus. I f, i nstead of sitting i n darkness, you turn from the
light bulb to ga ze at a uniform white s u rface, the co lored
afterim ages yo u see wi l l becom e progressively more com
pleme ntary to those seen in the dark.
S UCCESSIVE A FTERIMAGES,

SPREADING E FFECT, i l l ustra ted bel ow, i s a seem i ng con

trad iction to s i mu lta neou s color contra s t ( p . 1 2 1 ), in
wh ich the contra st between two colors i ncrea s es when th ey
are placed side by side . The sa me red i n k was u sed
th ro ughout the top strip a nd the same b l ue was u sed
th ro ughout th e bottom. From what happens d u r ing s i m u l
ta neou s contrast, yo u m ight expect th at th e b l a c k ink
next to th e red wou ld make th e red a ppea r l i g hter, or
th e wh ite n ext to the red wou ld prod uce a darker red .
Due to the spread i ng effe ct, h owever, th e oppo s i te occurs.
Th e b l ues surrounded by white a ppea r less saturated , too,
th an th ose su rrou nded by b l ack. The spread i ng effect, a s
we l l as the phenomena o f afterim ages m ay b e t h e res u l t
o f t h e bleac h i ng o f cone pigments i n th e ret i n a , a nd their
sub seq uent diffus ion i nto neig hbor i ng cone ce l l s .

C O LOR SYSTEMS
Experts h ave long sought a foo l proof system for speci
fy i n g c o l o r . They wou l d l i ke to identify o r describe the
color of an object or l ig h t so that it can be reproduced
with accuracy at a nother place or time. To do th i s they
m u st be able to state the color in ter m s so unequ ivoca l
that a color match ca n be made with reasonable certa i nty
with i n l i m its that are visua l l y accepta b l e . Idea l ly, the
system wou l d wo rk, whether the object being observed
was a ba l l of woo l , an automobi le with a g lossy fi n i s h ,
o r a l i q u i d dye . The mode of observation ( p . 1 1 9 ) sho u l d
n o t affect th e color matc h .
O bvi o u s l y , n o color di ctionary ca n h a n d l e th e fu l l
range o f colors. The best i n u se today i n c l u d e s less
than 4 ,000 color n ames, a lthough some 1 0 m i l l io n colors
a re sa id to be d i stinguishable. A vo l u me of named color
sa m p l e s m ig ht be u sefu l with i n th e pa int or texti l e i n
d u stri e s . But those s a m p l e s probably wou l d not d u p l i
c a t e th e m a n y glossy and meta l l ic co lors u s ed on a uto
mobi l e s today.
O f the th ree system s descri bed on the fo l lowi n g pages ,
the Munsel l , th e Ostwald and the C I E , the last i s th e
most complex but the l east subjective a nd p rovides
th e high degree of co lor-m atc hing acc u racy ma ny tec h
n i c i a n s req ui re.

SPE CI F YI N G COLOR i s made more

di ffic u lt because color i s i n
fluenced by textu re . As s e e n i n
this i l lu stration , t h e colors of a l l
t h e objects match t h e co lo r sam
pl e . Under a ctua l condition s , they
migh t not because s u rface texture
va ri es from object to object,
ma king their colors appea rd ifferent.

THE MUNS ELL COLOR SYSTEM

was orig i na l ly devised

by Albert H. M u n sel l , a pai nter and art tea cher. It is
an ordered a rray of colored paper sam p l e s . Munsel l
u sed th ree color va riables : hue, chroma, and va l ue .
Chroma correspond s approxi matel y to saturation ( p. 1 0 2 );
va lue i s rel ated to the l ightness ( p . 3 5 ) of the sam ple.
H u es are a rranged i n spectral orde r arou nd a c i rc l e. The
ax i s of the c i rc le is a te n-step va l ue scale, bl ack at the
bottom , th rough n i ne shades of gray, to white a t the top.
Chroma var ies along the radi i from a m i n i m um at the
central ach ro matic ax i s to a ma x i m um at th e peri meter.
I n practice th e M u ns e l l System i s a n atlas of 1 00 sepa
rate pages of paper chips, a rranged tree l i ke about the
vertical ( va l ue) axi s . The c h i ps o n any one page are a l l
o f t h e same hue, but va ry i n c h roma from left to right
and i n va l u e from bottom to top . The d ifferences be
tween neighbor i n g sam ples have been chosen to repre
sent psycho log i c a l l y eq ual interva l s . The M u n se l l System
is a n atlas of s urface co lors . Its reliabi l i ty depends
somewhat u po n the su rface textu re of the color sa mple
bei n g com pa red . For best res u lts, of course, a standard
white sou rce of i l l u m i nation m u s t be used .

0 white
9

i - 6
5
4

Coordinate s
of the
M unsel l
S ystem

3
2
black
neutral color
2 4
6

1 26

II

- chroma

T H E M U NSELL C O LOR TREE co n

sists of 1 00 vertical sec tio n s , o n e
o f whi ch i s s h o w n below. Arrow

value
verti ca l sec tion --+

points to color chip identified as

5 8 4 / 8 ( h u e - 5 8 , value - 4 ,
chroma - 8 ) .

+
9

T H E T E N BA SIC H U ES of the
Mu nsel l system a re red, yel low,
gree n , blue, and purpl e and
combinations of these in pa irs .
For each hue th ere are ten
gradations, making 1 00 distinct
hues. Each ba sic h u e i s number 5
in its g radation scale. N u m ber
1 OY i s fol lowed by 1 GY. Colored
sam pl e s for basi blue a re shown
at right. The va lue des i gnation
ra nges from 1 at the botto m ( not
show n ) through 9 a t the top .
Chroma scales a re of d ifferent
lengths, dependi n g o n the partic ula r hue and value.
For sale by the National Burea u
of S tandards, Washington, D . C . ,
a n d useful in color specification
are 1 8 charts covered with
glossy colored
chips.
I s sued
with the cha rts is a tab l e that
l i sts chip number, col or name, and
Munsell notation .

chrom a+

10

i s a materia l system
u s i ng colo r samples s i m i l a r to th ose of the M u n se l l . like
the M u n s e l l system it bears the inherent wea kness of
printed c olors that cannot comp letely represent those
proposed by the system . This weakness is ba l a n ced by
h aving a system that i s we l l keyed to the C I E system
( pp . 1 3 0- 1 3 2 ) and i n wh ich samples can be d i rectly
vi ewed and matched . The Ostwa ld system i s based on
s u rface colors and i s often preferred by a rtists .
The O stwa ld system uses the psychophys i c a l variables
of dominant wavel ength, purity and l u m i nance i n stead
of the psycholog i c a l va riables of h u e , saturation and
brig htnes s, a s approx imated i n the M u n se l l syste m . O st
wald a rranged h i s system with h ues of m a x i m u m pu rity
form i n g a n equatorial c i rc l e and with complementary
colors opposite. The axis of the c irc l e g rades fro m white
at the top down to b l ack. I n practice, t h i s for m s a series
of 3 0 color tri a n g l es with a ba se of l ightness and with
th e m ost satu rated hue at the a pex . Each six-sided
sample is identified by th ree n u m bers representing the
proportion of black, white and " fu l l color, " adding up
to a tota l of 1 00 per cent.
S i m i l a r in term inology to the O stwa l d system i s a
vo l u m e prepa red by a b i rd expert, Robert Ridgway, and
u sed by bio l og i sts for ove r 50 yea r s . Th e Ridgway color
d i ctionary shows over 1 , 1 00 colors with names that i nd i
cate fu l l color, ti nt a nd s hade .
THE OSTWALD COLOR SYSTEM

COMPA R I SON OF OSTWALD A N D M U N SELL SYSTEM S

Munsell

1 28

T H E OSTWALD COLOR TREE

N umbers on each s i x - s ided

sample ind icate pe rce ntage
of color ( C ) , white ( W } , and
b la ck ( B ) n eeded to match
the s a mp l e .

VERTICAL SEC T I O N FROM

THE OSTWALD C O LOR TREE

1 29

THE C I E SYST E M

makes it pos s i b l e to desc ribe color

samples i n m ath ematical te rms and to represent the domi
nant wavelength and purity of th e sam p l e on a diagra m .
Th e system w a s developed b y t h e Com m i s sion l nterna
tiona l e de I ' Ec l airage- C I E ( I nternationa l C o m m i ssion of
I l l uminatio n ) . It d ea l s with dom i nant wavelength and purity
l i ke th e O stwa l d syste m ( p . 1 2 8 ) and can a l so be re
lated to the Munsel l system ( p . 1 26 ) . Both systems have
now been keyed in C I E terms , so notations can usually
be converted from one system to the other.
To d evelop th e CIE system, data wa s n eeded on the
co lor-match i n g cha racteri stics of th e ave rage eye. U s i n g
a colorimeter, a n u mber o f observers made a series
of color matches agai nst a spectrum of monochromatic
colors em ployi n g a m i xture of th ree primary colors
( specific wavelengths of red , green, and blue) . Based
on the results, three color m ixture c u rves ( be low) were
produced . Th ese represent the relative amount of each
of the prima ries needed by the standard observer to
match any pa rt of the visible spectrum . By a mathemati
cal tran sform ation, a re loted set o f c u rves was prod uced
in which the g reen c u rve ( c u rve y) a l so expresses th e
l u minance observed at each wavel ength and i s thus
a l so the sta ndard l u m i nosity c u rve.
2 .0
Cll
:;)

1 .6

1 .2

Qj

0.8

Cll
>

0:::

0.4
0
4 00 0 A

1 30

5 000 A

6000 A

Wavelength ( Ang stroms )

7000 A

developed by the CI E,
with values from the th ree color-m ixture c u rve s serves
as a p ictori a l map on w h i c h any color c a n be s h own.
In practice, the color of a n y sam ple i s defined by c iting
its coord i na tes on the c hromatic ity d i a g ra m ( be l ow ) and
ad d i n g a fig ure for its rela tive l u m i n a n c e .
A CH ROMATICITY DIA G RAM,

T o produce t h e chromaticity
diagram, read ings were taken
from the color- mixture curves at
a suffi cient number of selected
interv a l s . F rom these were de
rived the coord inates for a se
ries of points representing a
spectrum of fu l ly satu rated col
ors. Plotting these points a nd join
ing them with a smooth cu rve
provided the basic triangular
structure of the ch romatic ity dia
gram ( fi g . 1 . below ) .
A l l vis ibl e colors c a n b e rep
resented by points with i n this
figure . The entire s pectrum of
fully satu rated hues lies on the
smooth outer curve, ra nging from
viol et ( 4 ,000 A) at the lowest
po int through hues of green ( 5 , 200
A) at top to red ( 7, 000 A) at
right. N on-spectral purples a re
fo und along the l i n e that con-

0.8

. l ttf

nects the lower extrem ities of

the cu rve. Any straight l ine
th rough the center point C w i l l
i ntersect the curve at comple
m entary wavelength s .
Three standard l i ght sources
( p . 1 7 ) have been defined and
their coord inates also plotted
as three points on the chroma
ticity diagram ( fig . 1 ). These points
represent the color characteris
tics of an ordinary in candes
cent lamp ( A) , a pprox imate noon
s u n l ight ( B) , and average day
l ight ( C ) . A ' s position, closer to
long ( red) wavelengths than C ' s,
shows that i ndoor lamps appear
reddish compa red to day l ight.
A typi ca l CIE nota tion for
an impure red color sample ( fig .
0.58,
2 ) m ig h t b e g iven a s x
y
0 . 3 3 , a n d relativ e lumi
nance ( Y )
0.24.
=

_LU i l '1 '

5 2 00

0.6 -

r-+--

y
A

0 . 4 - i-

r
i-

c .

....

0.2 --

-r-

-1-.

-R4ooo1

0.2

----

7000 A I

.I l I
l l I I
I

0.4
X

0.6

0.8

O i l p a i n t i n g by
c o p y r i g h t 1 963

1 32

l.

Candax, from
by the O p t i c a l

The Science
S o c i ety

of

of Co lor,
America

T H E C I E C H R OMATIC I TY D I A
GRAM ( left) shows colors de
term ined by the CIE g raphs and
equation s . The CIE system works
on form u las, not on color sam
ples, but the i l l ustration does
g ive a rough visual ind ication .
A long the s mooth curved pe
rimeter a re the colors of the spec
trum with much s pace for green s
because the eye i s more sensi
tive to them. Purples lie on the
straight line connecting the red
and blue ends of the curv e . Al l
other colors are represented by
poi nts enclosed by the curv e .

T h e achro matic point ( wh ite) is

near the center. Colors i n crease
i n satu ration with thei r di stance
from the achromatic poin t . Th us,
ova l zones aroun d this point rep
resent colors of equal satu ration .
Each pie- like sector conta ins a
small range of hues, graded by
saturatio n . H ue s at opposite ends
of any stra ight line through the
center are complementary. An
additive m ixture of any two colors
i s represented by an i n termedi ate
poi nt somewhere on the straight
l i ne between the points repre
senting the two colors.

L I G H T AN D C O LO R AS T O O LS
Light and color are so m u c h a part of o u r l i ves that we
often overlook their fu ndamenta l i m porta n c e to m a n y busi
nesses s u c h a s adverti s i n g , te l evi sion, photography,
pa i nt, pri nti ng, opti c s, and many others . Arti sts, deco
rators, and desig n ers use l ight and color i n the i r crea
tion s . The a rtist ' s task, for example, i s not one of repro
d u ction , but of representati o n . By l i n e s , and for m , and
color he seeks to represent those featu res of a person , a
scene, a n idea, or a n emotion that h e feel s are i nter
esti ng or i m portant. H e must know and use the symbo l i s m
and emotional effect of h i s colors no matter w h a t h i s
style or schoo l . H e m ust keep i n m i n d the effects of color
constancy and c o l or contrast, and h e m ust either apply
or pu rposefu l l y ig nore the rules of h a rm o n i o u s color
combinations.
Even the rea l ist does not try to pa i n t a scene exactly
as h e sees it. The pi ctu re i s not the actu a l scene, and the
viewe r ' s response to the picture may d iffer from h i s atti
tude towa rd th e scene itself.

1 33

are descri ptive terms ordi

na rily a s soci ated wi th m u s ic, but they a l s o a pp l y to c olor .
Harmony and d i scord i n both cases i nd i cate com binations
th at are p lea sant or un pleasant within o u r culture. Rules
of color h armony a nd d i scord a re derived from ex perience
and sanctioned by social acceptance. They have no known
ma th ematical or scientific bas i s .
.
A n a rtist or a dec orator may discuss harmony and d i s
cord i n term s of color circles of tints, hues, and tones.
Ti nts are prod uced when wh ite i s added to saturated
hues. Add i n g black, i nstea d , produces tones or shade s .
Adjacent c olors and opposi n g com plementary h u e s on
th e c ircles harmonize fa irly wel l . Widely separated hues,
not complementa ry, tend to prod uce d i scord .
Al l ful ly satu rated colors do not a ppea r to h ave tlie
same d eg re e o f saturati o n . A satu rated yel low a ppea rs
HARMONY AND DISCORD

1 34

2
HAR M O N I O U S H UES include
ye l l ow a nd g reen ( 1 ) , c lose on
the hue circle, and co mplemen
tary blue and yellow ( 2 ) .

DISCORDAN T H UES, such as

magenta a nd yel low ( 3 ), o re for
aport on the hue c ircl e , but not
fo r enough to be complementary .

m u ch brighter than does its complementa ry saturated b l u e .

S i m u ltaneo u s ly, t h e range of colors from a pa l e yel low
tint to a ful ly satu rated yel low seems g reater than from
a pa le b l u e ti nt to a da rker, fu l ly satu rated b l u e . Nor
m a l ly a satu rated blue seem s pleasant nea r a less
satu rated yel low. The reverse situation, placing a fu l ly
satu rated yel low next to a less satu rated b l ue, appears
unpleasant even though the two colors a re complemen
tary. Wh i l e adjacent colors of the hue c i rc l e blend fai rly
wel l , they tend to make a bland and u n i n teresti ng com
position . Artists wi l l ofte n add a splash of color from a
d ifferent part of the spectru m , a deli bera te d i scord , to
give spice and e m phasis to a scene.
DISCORDAN T A PPEARA NCE of
two usually harmo n io u s co lors i s
d u e t o t h e di ffe rence in satura
tio n . T h e yel low is f u l l y satu
ra ted and the blue is not ( 4 ).

Equal areas of red and cyan ( 5 )

ore d iscordant a s show n . The
some colors ore used in ( 6 ) , but
the c ya n i s dominant and the
co mbi na ti on i s h a rmon i ou s
.

Custom decrees that boy babies be dressed in blue, girl babies

in pink; that brides wear white and mou rning widows wear black.

has devel oped ove r the

years a s certa i n colors have become a s soc iated with
special mean ings. I n genera l , dark, saturated col ors give
a fee l i ng of r i c hn ess a nd elega nce . Bright, saturated co lors
ex press live l iness and gaiety . Da rk, u nsatu ra ted co lors
are sad a nd m oody, wh i l e l ight un saturated ones te nd
towa rd fr ivo l i ty and c heerfu l nes s .
L i terature a n d c u s tom te l l us that redd i s h hues are
wa rm ; b l u i s h ones are cold . Red i s the co lor o f a nger
and courag e. White stands fo r purity , i n nocen ce, a nd
hope . G reen i s th e color of youth a nd vigo r, b ut also
of envy and i nexperience. Yel low suggests cowa rd ice,
a l so che erfu lness a nd sunshine. B l ue can be purita n ica l ,
mood y, i nd ece nt, o r tru e . Pa s s ion i s freq uently purple,
but vio l et p u r p l e ha s th e d i g n i ty of roya lty, wh i l e red
dish pu rp le i s the col o r of rag e.
Colors often h ave d ifferent m ea n i n g s i n d ifferent c u l
tu res . I n Western c u ltures, b l a c k expresses wickedness,
sorrow, and despa i r . It i s a funera l color, while i n China
mourners wear white . The Aztecs associated colors with
the fou r compass points, North being red . Emotiona l
assoc iatio n s with color may be a n i ndividual and not a
c u ltu ra l m atter, and two people may often find their tastes
in conflict.
THE SYMBOLISM OF COLOR

1 36

u sed to protect o r to decorate su rface s , consist

of fi ne l y grou nd pigmen t parti c l e s s u s pe n d ed i n a l iqu id,
th e ve h i c l e . Th e pig ment parti c l e s { p. 1 3 8 } a re wh ite
or colored, an d a re u s u a l l y opaq ue .
The v eh ic le helps to spread the pa int even ly, a n d , when
dry, binds o r g l u es the pigment to the s u rface . The o i l
pa int u s e d b y artists i s a pigmen t paste i n a veh i c l e o f
l i n seed or poppyseed oil tha t is th i n n ed with tu rpenti ne.
A fam i l i ar ve h i c l e of househo ld pa i nts i s l i nseed oi l . The
pa i nt is th i n n ed , most common ly with turpentine or a
petrol e u m deriva tive. The th inner may a l so speed up dry
ing . In newe r pa i nts the veh i c l e is a rubbe r- ba sed , fa st
dryi n g com po und, or some pla sti c such as a v i ny l or
ac ryl ic typ e. Th e ty pe o f veh i c l e used may affect th e
degree of gloss or th e flatness of the pa i nt, a nd thu s
th e a ppea ra nce or color of the su rface p a i n ted . A g lossy
or enamel pa i nt on a smooth-textured su rface is s h i ny
d u e to reg u l a r reflectio n of l ig ht . Th e color of a g lossy
surfa c e is seen most e a s i l y when viewed from th e di rec
tio n of the inc iden t l i ght. When viewed fro m th e oppo
site d i rection, the gloss tends to hide th e c o l o r . A flat
pa i nt d iffuses ra th er th an reflects the l ig h t reg u l a rly
from a s u rface .
PAINT S,

To impa rt an a i r of cheerfu lness

or effi ci ency to interior wa l l s ,
paints with h ig h reflecta nce values
( percentage of incident light re
fleeted ) a re often used . Reflect
ances of 5 0 - 6 0 % are held de
s i rable for schoo l s and offices;

61 %

48%

3 5 - 5 5 % for t h e home. Paints that

g ive lower reflectance values
( 3 0 - 4 0 % ) can be u sed for trim,
floors, and furniture. The a p
proximate reflectance values for
fou r flat green pa ints are shown
below.

38%

20%

PIGME NTS

provide the color and the covering or hiding

power of paint. They a l so contribute to its d u rabi l ity
and to the permanency of the color i n weathering. Natu
ra l , or m i n era l , pig ments are made of finely ground ea rth
materials, such as c i n na bar, ochre, cha rcoa l , and others .
Pigm ents may be either organic or i no rgan ic, but most of
them are now prod uced synthetical l y . Th e oldest white
pigment i s wh ite lead, a ca rbonate of l ead made by
corrod ing lead sheets and then c o l l ecting a nd drying
the fine powder. Because i t has about n i ne times greater
hiding power, and is i nert chem ica l ly, tita n i u m d ioxide
is rep l a c i n g white lead . S ome red and many yel low and
brown pigments are derived from a n i ron oxide . The
common yel low used by artists, however, is cad mium
ye l low. A g reen pigment i s produced from c h romium
ox ide; bright Prussian blue i s a complex i ro n cyanide.
B l ack is made of fi n ely d ivided lampblack ( carbo n ) .
Pa int extenders a re white or nearly wh ite pigments
th at add l i ttle or no color to the pai nt, but help to give
it body . Meta l s i n powder form may be added in the
veh i c l e to make various meta l l i c pa i nts . L u m i nous pai nts
conta i n pigments or dyes that g low when i l l u m i nated ,
as by automobi le head l ights.
W h e n a beam of white l i g h t strikes
a pa inted surface, some light i s re
flected , part of it penetrates and

i s a bsorbed . The rema inder is

diffusely reflected and i s respon
sible for the color you see.

0.8

ti

0.6

cadmium yel low

0.4

pigment m ixture

0
......

<I>
u
c
0
c

.E

::;)
--'

0.2

u l tra marine blue

0
4000 A

5000 A

6000 A

II
7000 A

Wavelength ( Ang stroms )

S pectral reflection curve for
a m ixture of two ports of cad
mium yel low ( upper curve) with
one port of ultramarine blue

( lower curve) does not show pure

effects of either additive or sub
tractive mixing. Middle curve i s
the blended po int.

Pig m ents do not d i sso lve, nor do they u n ite c h e m i c a l l y

with t h e pa int veh ic le. I f two pigments a re m ixed i n a
pa i nt, the color of the pa int appears to change though
it sti l l consi sts of the two d i stinct pigments. Th i s effect
i s due to add itive color m i x i ng ( p . 1 0 7 ) . The m ix i n g of
pai nts to obta i n desi red colors i s com p l i cated because
not only addi tive but a l so su btractive color m i x i ng ( p .
1 1 0 ) i s i nvol ved . A s uccessfu l pred iction o f the res u l ts
usua l l y req u i res m u c h experience. I n fact, o n e . of the
problems of th e pa int i n d u stry is to d ete r m i n e how to
rel ate the color of a pa int m ixture to the s pectra l reflec
tion c h aracteri stic s of its component p i g ments . Resu lts
cannot be pred i cted on the basis of the c u rves from the
com ponent Pigments. A parti a l understa n d i n g comes from
,
knowledge about the rel ative amou nts of scattering and
absorption that occur i n th e pig ments.
1 39

DYES a re colorants. U n l ike pigments, they a re soluble,

and the particles of the dye are of m o l ec ul a r s i ze and
can not be seen even with the most powerfu l opti cal
m i c roscope.
Most dyes can be a p p l i ed d i rectly, parti c u l a rly to the
a n i m a l fi bers, such as woo l and s i l k . Others are effec
tive only i f the fiber i s treated first with a dye fastener,
or mordant, a chem ical that causes the dye colors to ad
here to the fibers. Cotton and l i nen usua l ly req u i re a
mord a nt. Synthetic fibers often i nvolve complex dyeing
problems.
Nearly a l l dyes a re o rga n i c com po u n d s . Orig i n a l l y
they were m a d e from fruits, flowers, bark, roots, in
sects , and marine mol l usks. A few used i n earlier days
were of m i nera l orig in, but most used today a re pro
duced syntheti c a l ly. The fi rst of these wa s an a n i l ine
dye, d i s c overed accidenta l ly i n 1 8 6 6 . Th i s beautifu l
ma uve dye was the beg i n n i n g of the enormous coa l-ta r
dye i n dustry that today produces nearly a l l dyestuffs .

1 40

About 4,000 different dyes a re ava i lable commercia l ly.

These fit i nto 22 chemical c lasses and are each identified
by dye experts with a five-digit n u m be r . Dyes a re c las
sified chem ical ly, but a l so by the i r color, by the materia l s
they color, and b y th e d yeing method s used . The u l tra
violet rays of s u n l ig ht break down ma ny dyes i nto color
less compounds. A good dye res i sts fad i n g . Dyes must
a l so resist the rea ctio n o f detergents a nd other house
hold chem i ca l s . Dyes that are not ea s i l y removed are
known a s fast dye s . To get suitable dyes for a great
n u m ber of fa brics and other materia l s w ith a va riety of
textu res, computers are now u sed to summarize the
variables.
Th e prob l e m s of dyei ng are largely practi ca l . The
d ifference between the absorption c urve o f the dye and
the reflection c u rve of the dyed materi a l attest to the fact
that the c olor of the dye sol ution and of th e dyed mate
rial a re often q u ite different. I n viewi ng and matc h i n g dyed
materials, standard i l l um i nation is i m po rtan t, a s every
woman knows who ta kes a skirt to the window where
she can see its true daylight color.
CH R OMOPHOR ES,
g roups
of
atoms that conta in loosely h e ld
electrons capable of selectively
absorbing some wavelength s fro m
wh ite l i g h t a n d tran s m itting t h e
re st, g ive co lor t o orga nic dyes.
Si nce only a portion of the wave
lengths contained i n white l ig h t
remains a n d reaches your eyes,
the light from the dye a ppears

-N = N-

c hemical

"-/
benzene

b""""'d""s----""m
lecules
;.;.;o=

co lored . Chromophores a re fou nd

in al l colored orga n ic co mpou n d s ,
o r chromog e n s . To convert a
chromogen to a dye, a nother
grou p of a tom s , the auxochrome,
must be presen t . These a tom s fix
(attach ) the dye to a fa bric . E l e
ments of the structura l formu la of
the dye cal led Butter Y e l low are
shown below.

0 - N = N -O N ( CH 3 ) z
B utter Yel low
( para dimethyl
a mi noa zobenzene)

1 41

I I I I
0

I I I U
6

COLOR IN BUSIN ESS AND INDUSTRY

has many uses.

Showing debit figures i n red ink and credits i n black
ink i s an example of color cdd i n g . A more elaborate
code i s u sed to mark electronic resistors a n d capaci
tors . Each n u meral i s assi gned a unique color ( a bove),
so that a sequence of bands or dots can be used to indi
cate th e va lue of a component. A 2 5 ,000 -ohm resi stor
is ma rked as sh own below. Red sta nd s fo r the two, g ree n
for the fi ve, a nd orange, i n th i s position, means the
n u m ber ends in thr ee zeros. The si lver band i nd icates
that the re si sto r va l u e is accurate with i n 1 0 per cent.
a color-coded resisto r

)
COLOR CODES may be u sed to
disting uish
the
d ifferent
cir
cuits i n e lectrica l wiring . Some
codes a re for convenience and ef
ficiency, w h i le others a re pri
marily for safety. One of the
most common color codes in ex
istence i s the red , ye l low, and
green traffi c l ight.
The use of accurate color match
ing devices a l lows chemists to

ana lyze samples ra pidly or to

control quality. Color is the key
to the temperature of furnaces
and to the testin g or g rading of
food products such a s tomatoes
or bananas.
Mass prod uction often demands
that parts manufactu red .at dif
ferent places match in color when
finally assembled. This requires
elabora te methods of color contro l .

Color coding i s evident i n the

electronic circuit at left and i n
the wires that make up the tele
phone cable below.

I n packaging, what ' s outside

counts most. The design and color
on the exterior often determine
the success or fai lu re of a product.
Bold h ues aid i n the " hard sel l . "

COLOR

IN ADVE RTIS I NG

has three uses: to attract

attention, to decorate, and to influence by symbo l i s m .
Brig ht colors a n d c ontrast a re more i m po rtant i n catch
ing the eye of a prospective customer tha n a brand name
or s l oga n . The brand na me i s read after the eye has
been caught, and often a fter the c u stomer has p i c ked
up the package in h i s hand . An attrac tive appearance
can often sel l a n i n ferior prod uct. Manufactu rers spend
m i l l ions of do l la rs eac h yea r to ensure that their
produ cts a re decorated to the cu stom er ' s taste, know
ing that many times a s i m p l e change in color has meant
the d ifference between com merc i a l success and fai l u re .
The powerfu l symbo l i s m of d ifferent colors can strongly
affect the decision to buy or reject. A yel l ow soa p, for
insta n ce, may be thought stronger than a white soap,
perhaps becau se ye l low i s sym bo l i c o f power. A ma n
may buy ciga rettes i n a red package, but avoid them
if the package is p i n k- beca use the color i s not a
" ma sc u l i n e " o n e. I n recent years, a major gasoline
company decided that i t needed a more aggressive
marketi ng approach and changed its trade colors from
a ta me green and white to a bo ld red , white, and blue
at a cost of m i l l ions o f dol l a rs . Color may even be the
dec i d i ng factor in the choice of a n expensive car.
1 43

depends on a photochemical reaction i n

a n em ul sion o f si lver hal ide c rysta l s em bedded i n gela
ti n . Light rays prod uce a latent image i n th e emul sion
which i s red uced to p u re s i lver by treatment with a
developer. After development, the u n reduced s i lver h a l id e
is rem oved b y t h e fi x i n g process . T h e resu lting i mage
consi sts of a deposit of pure s i lver embedded i n ha rd
ened gelati n . The density of t h e deposit i s determ i ned
by the exposure. Th i s i s a negative image because it
is dark where the orig inal scene wa s l i ght, and l ight
where the original scene was dark. To prod uce a positive
image, l i g h t i s passed through th i s negative o nto another
photographic e m u l sion, either on fi l m or o n paper.
If the original developed film i s not fixed, but is
bleac hed i nstead, a u n i form exposure of the film to
light wi l l then prod uce a posi tive latent i mage which
may be deve loped i n the usual way. Th i s reversa l pro
cess i s u sed for many amateu r co lor fi l m s , both movi e
and sti l l . B l ack and wh ite photograp h i c e m u l s ions are
often more sensi tive to one color than to a nother. By
dye-sensitizing, they can be made more sensitive to
d ifferent wavelength s , as desired .
PHOTOGRAPHY

COLOR NEGATIVE shows max i

m u m density a n d deepest color
where i mage is l ightest. In a
subtrac tive fl l m the col ors on the
negative are co mp lementary to
the co lor of the i mage.

COLOR POS ITIVE is made by

placing a sheet of col or fllm or
pa pe r beh ind the negative and
exposing them to light. W h e n
the fll m o r pa per i s developed, a
po sitive color image results.

mosaic
screen

l ight

Cross-section of additive, three-color, mosaic system camera film

done fo r commercial pu rposes

uses d yes or col ored fi l ters , and nea r l y a l l i nvol ve three
separate i m ag es made by expos ure to l ight from three
different pa rts of the spectrum . Col o r p rocesses diffe r
m a i n l y i n m ethods of ma ki ng and co m b i n i n g th e i m ages.
The three m a i n meth od s i n use tod ay are th e color
nega tive (p. 1 4 4 ), di rect rever sal (whi ch produ ces tran s
pa rencies, p. 1 4 6 ), and color separation . The l a st in
vo lve s maki n g a sepa rate negative for ea c h colo r, a nd
its use is re stricted exc l u s ive l y to the printing a n d com
mercia l picture indu stries ( p . 1 4 9 ) .
COLOR PHOTOG RAPHY

COLOR
emu l s ion s
AD DITIVE
( D u faycolor) ofte n u s e a fi n e
grai ned mosaic of m ic roscopic
red , blue, and g reen dots . light
from the image pa sses through
these dots to reac h the emu l s io n ,
a light-sens itive l ayer o f silver
hal id e . The s i lver h a l i de crystal s
are affected by the pattern of
the image coming through the
co lored dots.
When the film is developed,
the darker areas turn to meta l-

The Dufaycolor film used to make

the accompa nying photograph was
covered with a cro ss-ha tching of
fine lines, as many as 1 ,000 to
the inch, each dyed red , green,
or blue. I t i s an obsolete, add i
tive color process.

l ie s i lver and are removed, leav

ing a pos itive tran sparency . The
transparent
dots,
too
small
to be seen individually on pro
j ection , fuse v isually into hues
a pp rox imating those of the image.

EMULSION
SENSITIVE TO

blue

# 1 em ulsion Ioyer
yel low filter
# 2 emulsion Ioyer
# 3 emulsion Ioyer
film bose
cros s section of Kodac h rome fi lm

COMMON CO LOR FI LMS, such as

Kodach rom e , E k tac h rome, and
Anscoch rom e , contain three differ
ent emulsion l ayers and a yel l ow
fi lte r . In Kodach rom e ( abov e ) the
fi rst Ioyer of emulsion is sensi
tive to b lue l ight, the s econd to
b lue and gree n , and the third
to blue and red . But th e yel l ow
fi lter, between the first and
second emu l s io n layers , blocks
the blue l i ght, al lowing only
red and g reen to pa ss through .
As a re sult, the s econd emul
s i on Ioyer i s sensitized only by
g reen l i ght, and the th i rd Ioyer
only by red . In th i s way, three
negative i mages representing the
three prim ary colors o re formed
simultaneously.
During developm ent, the s i lver
i n each im age is repl aced by the
a pp ropriate dye , and the yel l ow
fi lter is bleached out. Becau s e
t h e i mages o r e n egativ e, each
I oyer must be dyed its comple
m entary color to form positive
i mage s . The blue sensitive emul
s i on Ioyer is dyed yel low, the blue
and green sens itive Ioyer is dyed
magenta, and the blue and red
sensitiv e Ioyer is dyed cya n .

Kodachrome photograph
In Kodachrome, the d ye-forming
chemicals ( cal led couplers) are
conta ined in the developer, and
processing is qu ite complicated.
The final color transparency is
normally pleas ing, and resolution
of deta i l i s exceptionally good .
I n other multilayer films, the
dye couplers a re conta ined in
the emulsio n s . The th ree-color
images con be developed all at
once in the same developer, a
process wel l within the capa
bility of many amateu rs .

i ntroduced i n 1 9 6 3 ,, enables one

to obta i n a fi n i shed color print one m i n ute after taking
the picture. The m ulti layer Polacolor negative is exposed
in a Pol a roid Land Camera . Processing occurs i n side of
the camera fo r th e ro l l fi l m s a nd outside of the camera
in a l ig ht-tight sandwic h for the pack fi l m .
POLACOLOR FILM,

A PO LACOLOR F I LM assemb l y
( 1 ) con s ists of t h e n egative,
the pod and the rece iving sheet
( positive ) . The negative contains
th ree emulsion layers, each sensi
tive to a d ifferent region of the
spectrum. Next to each layer is
a layer containing yellow, magenta ,,_---'
or cyan dye-developer molecules.
I n the pod is a t h i ck , jelly- like
proce ssing reagent to activate the
dye-developers . The fi n i shed color
positive i s formed o n the receiv
ing s h eet.
After exposu re , the fi lm assem
bly i s pulled through a set of rol l
ers ( 2 ) that burst the pod and
spread the reagent between the
negative and the receiving sheet
( 3 ) . Wherever l ight has activated
developing rPrlnFnt.
an emulsion l ayer, dye-developer
pod
molecules become trapped i n the
negative. Wherever the emuls ion
tab
has not been affected by l ight,
No.
the d ye-developer molecules con
tinue through the negative to the
receiving sheet where they are
locked in place to form a posi
tive color print ( below ) .

1 47

PRINTING

i s one of the most importa nt methods of

comm u n i cation u s i ng l ight and color. Th i s a ncient art
probably began with ha nd-carved wooden blocks pressed
against an inky su rface and then appl ied to paper. The
use f movable type put printing on a mass p roduction
ba s i s . Now, photo-typesetti ng, often contro l led by a
computer, i s repla c i ng type. H igh -speed presses turn out
n ewspapers, magazi nes and books at speed s g reater than
1 ,500 feet per m i n ute . About a b i l l ion books and about
2 . 5 bi l l ion magazines are printed a n n ua l ly i n the U . S .

LETTER PRESS, derived from the

ori g in a l method of printing from
carved blocks, prints from a
raised surface. Type is made with
elevated
letters;
photog raphs
are tra nslated into pattern s of
raised dots . Many newspapers are
printed by letterpress, with a
type setting dev i ce- the Linotype
machine-using raised letters .
GRAVURE is the reverse of let
terpress. I nk i s picked up from
depressions in the plate. Gravure
developed from intaglio where
the letters or designs were
carved into wood . The plate is
inked, then wiped so that ink re
mains only in the pits until it is
picked up by the paper in print
ing. Printing off of rotary plates
rotogravure - i s very rapid.

doc tor
blade

rubber
"blanket"

LITHOGRAPHY, original l y print

ing from a stone, now im prints
both i l l ustration ond text from
relatively s mooth metal plates .
To reproduce a photograph or
other pictu re with light and shade,
the i l l u stration i s photographed
through a ca mera that has a

Ful l-col or printi ng of Gauguin ' s

self portra it req u i res three color
plates and one black. Dots a re
a l igned at a di fferent angle to
be sure they do n ot print on o n e
another.

criss
The
screen .
rotatable
crossing ru l ed l i n e s of the screen
produce a series of dots on the
negative. The finer the screen ,
the better the deta i l . Newspapers
use a 6 5 -line screen (65 dots per
l inear inch ) . This book uses 1 3 3 .
T o make your eyes register the
dots as a continuous tone value,
the camera screen i s set so that
the pa rallel rows of dots on the
negative occur at some angle to
the horizonta l . For black or any
single color halftone, the angle
i s 4 5 deg rees.
I n fu l l-color reproduction, the
photographed
is
i l l u s tration
through blue, green, and red
filters,
producing a separate
negative for each color. The dots
are large where the original
color i s satu ra ted; smal l where
it i s weak. A printing plate is
made for each negative, the proc
ess being very simila r to print
ing a photograph from a negative,
but a metal plate coated with a
light-sens itive emu l sion is used
in stead of photographic pape r .
N e ither a ra i sed nor a de
pressed su rface is needed on the

metal plates used i n l i thographic

printing . I n stead, each plate is
waxy or otherwise repe l s the ink
except at those places where
letters or designs a ppear.
Yel low, magenta, and cyan inks,
complementary i n color to the fil
ters , are used with the plates
to duplicate the o riginal i l l u s
tration . Sometimes the overlap
of these three inks does not give
a strong black, so a black-and
wh ite halftone i s usually added .
Four-color sepa rations were used
for many of the i ll ustrations 1n
th i s book a s s h own above .
I N O F FSET L I T H O GR AP H Y, the
ro ll er-mounted
plate
becomes
inked a s i t revo lves . Its image is
tra n s ferred ( offset) in reverse onto
a rubber ma t or " b la nket" which
enci rcles a nother cylinder. As
this mat turn s , it tran s fers the
now un reversed i mage o nto pa per
held fi rm during the moment of
im pres s io n by a counter-rota ting
third cyl inder, A separate three
cyl inder u n i t o perates for each
color.

1 49

color TV camera

l u m i nance or
B&W signal

adder

adder
mirrors

m i rror

color tubes

The color TV ca mera records the scene in three primary colors .

emp loys a mosa ic method of add i

tive color m i x ing ( p . 1 09 ) . The image i s prod uced by
the action of a bea m of swi ft electro n s on a fl uores
cent s c ree n . The fine beam of e l ectrons sweep s across
the sc reen 5 2 5 times for each picture, and 30 pictures
are presented each secon d . To ach ieve satisfactory defl
n ftion, the i nten sity of the el ectron bea m is mod u lated at
frequencies u p to 4 . 5 m i l l ion cycles per second ( 4 V2 mega
cyc les ) . Th e l a rge ba ndwidth of th i s freq uency means that
the tra n s mitti n g station m u st u se carrier wa ve s less tha n
1 0 feet long . { AM radio wave s a re a bout 1 ,000 feet long. )
I n the televi sion stud io, the color camera views a
scene th rough a system of color sepa rati ng ( d i c h roic)
m i rrors, producing a sepa rate electronic signal for each
primary color. About 20 per cent of th e l i g h t that enters
the camera bypa sses its th ree color tubes and i s di rected
to a monoc h rome tube . The signal from th i s latte r tube
conta i n s most of the i n formation needed to produce pic
ture deta i l and brightnes s . After the signa l s leave the
camera , they combine to modulate the carrier wave,
which i s then b roadcast by a transmitter and a nten n a .
COLOR TELEVISIO N

1 50

tra n s m i tted from the tele

vi s ion station a re picked u p by the antenna o f th e re
ceiver, and a re separated i nto th e th ree origina l c olor
components and the monoch rome ( black a nd white ) portion
by electron i c c i rcuits. The color components a re converted
i n to three s ma l l voltages u sed to control the e m i ssion
of e l ectrons from three electron g u n s , one fo r each color
component. The electron s themselves do not c a rry color
character i stics, but represent the vol tages p roduced by the
l ight e ntering the camera. The color screen of the receiver
is covered by rows of th ree-dot c l usters of phosphors
that em it red , b l u e, or green l ight when exci ted by a n elec
tron ( p . 2 4 ) . The amount of l ight emitted i s rel a ted to
th e n u m be r of elec tro ns tha t stri ke the phos pho r.
The dots i n ea ch c l uster are arra ng ed so th e e lec
tron s fro m the g reen gun a lwa ys strike the p ho sphor that
em its green l i g h t, th ose fro m th e red gun always str i ke
th e phosphor that em its red l ight and th ose from the
blue gun excite th e phosphor that em its bl u e light. As
diffe rent vo ltages are suppl ied to the red , bl u e a nd g reen
guns, varying l evels of each color are em i tted by the
phos phor c l uster s . Since th e dots a re ve ry s m a l l and close
together, they can not be re solved sepa ra te l y by th e eye,
but are mixed by mosaic fu sion ( p. 1 0 9 ) i n to the h ue
th at was o rig ina l ly seen i n tha t area of th e pictu re by
th e camera. As a l l of th e rows of three -dot c l u ste rs a re
scanned, a col ored picture i s p roduced .
ELECTROMAG NETIC WAVES

I n the R . C.A. -type color tele

vision tube , beams fro m three
electron guns excite the phos
phor d ots on the screen.

screen with
phosphor
dots

Beam from ruby laser

prod uce an i ntense, monochromatic beam of

light th at can be focused to we ld, me lt, or va po rize a
sma l l a mo u n t of a ny su bsta nce . They m ay be u sed i n
com m u n i ca tions, i n th e acceleration of chemica l reactions,
and i n surgery . La ser i s an ac ronym fo r ' ' l i g ht a m p l ifi
cation by stimu lated emission o f ra d i a ti o n. " Th e fi rst
laser was b u i l t in 1 9 6 0 .
Lasers em it coherent ( i n-step) light waves , whereas a n
ord i n a ry light sou rce rad iates l i g h t of m ixed wave l engths
i n an out-of- step ( no ncoherent) and random m a n ner. The
l u m i n ance of the i m ag e of o rd i n a ry l ig ht cannot exceed
the source ' s l u m i na nce. But a l a ser can form a very
l u m i nant image becau se its para l l e l rays can be foc u sed
to a ti ny Sf:>Ot and a re added togethe r in phase .
LASERS

Penc il-thin laser beam is u sed in optical and mechanical a lignment.

The l i g ht fro m a sma l l laser, i n fact, can be focu sed

to form an i mage of l u m i n ance grea te r th a n th at of the
sun ' s s u rfac e . The concentration of en ergy is so g reat
th at extreme ly h igh te m peratures are p roduced . l i g ht
ra ys fro m a laser can be beamed throu gh space w i th a
fraction of a n inch sprea d per m i l e . The l ight i s a l so
extrem ely pu re i n color ( m on oc h romati c ) .
I N A RU BY LASER ( be l ow ) a
ru by crysta l rod has plane parol
lei po l i s h ed ends which are
silvered l i ke mi rror s . One end
is on ly pa rti al ly si lvered and acts
as a wi ndow for the light to get
ou t. E nergy is su pplied to the
ru by crystal by a powerf u l Aa sh
tube lamp. T h is serves to pump
the ( c h romium) atom s of the crys
tal to a " meta stable" energy state
in which they l inger fo r a few
thousa ndths of a second before
dropping to the g round state with
the emission of a photon of l i g h t .
M o s t o f t h e s e photpns p a s s ou t o f
the crystal wa lls a n d a re lost,
bu t soon one photon wil l move
direc tly a l ong the rod and is re
Aected from the polished end s,
pa ssing back and fo rth a long the
rod unti l it encounters a n a tom
in the exci ted metastable state .
The exc ited atom then rad ia tes

co ol ant

its photon in exact pha se with

the photon which stru c k it. This
second photon may in turn stim u
late another atom , and t h i s " ca s
code " process continues until the
whole c rysta l i s fi l l ed with in
phose radiation osci llati ng back
and forth ins ide the rod . Pa rt
of th is radiation
is em itted
thro ugh the ha lf-s ilvered end of
the rod and becomes the laser
bea m . Al l of th i s tok es place
with in a few bi ll ionth s of a
second, then the Aa sh tube fires
ag ain and the process i s repeated .
Modern la sers have been made
of solid c rysta ls, glass, l iq u id s
and ga ses. S om e operate i n pu lses
as described, but ma ny emit co n
tinuo usly. In a l l , the ra d i ation i s
monoc h ro matic a n d coherent. I t i s
this h i gh deg ree of coherence that
makes laser l ig h t d ifferent from
that of a ll other sou rce s .

co olant

1 53

HOLOGRAPHY i s a special kind of photography i n wh ich

th e film c a ptu res not th e i ma ge of th e subjec t but the
pa tter n of th e wavefronts of l ight reflected fro m th e
subject. Invented by De nni s Gabor i n 1 9 4 8 , the pro
cess took on n ew i m porta n c e when the l a ser wa s i n
ve nted . I n addi tion to its u ses i n th e ente rta i n ment
field, holography has many scientific and i nd ustria l
appl ications, wh ich a re be i ng deve loped ra pid ly.
T O MAKE A H O LOGRAM, a
co herent l i gh t beam ( from a laser)
is spl it i nto two pa rts-an object
beam w h i ch i l l u mi nates the su b.
ject, and a reference beam wh ich
is di rected to the photograp h ic
fi l m by m irrors. At the fil m
the I ight reflected from the sub
ject interferes with the reference
bea m to cau se a complex pattern
of l i ght and da rk fringes in the
film when it is deve l oped.
W hen a ho logram i s h e l d in a
beam of coherent l ig ht, part of

t h e di ffra cted light i s a rep ro

duction of the orig inal l ig h t
wav e pa ttern t h a t came from the
subj ect . T h u s , a v iewer look ing
th rough the holog ra m can see a
li fe-like reproduction of the o rigi
nal scene. Th i s v irtual i mage i s
tru ly three-d imen s ional , s i nce the
vi ewer can move his head and
see a different pe rspective of the
subj ect. Bes ides th e v irtual image,
there is a lso a rea l i mage formed
by the rays d iffrac ted i n another
directio n .

laser
beam

AR RA N G E M E NT F O R
PRO D U CI NG A H O LO G RAM

USE OF H O L O G RA M I N
PRO D U CI N G R EAL AN D
VI RT U A L I MA G E S

rea l i ma ge

FI B E R OPTICS

i s th res u l t of an i ngen ious a p p l i cation

of a simple principle. I magine a l i g h t ray that has en
tered the end of a s l i m so l i d glass rod . I f it a lways
strikes the surface of the glass at angles greater than
the critical a ng le (p. 44 ) , the ray wi l l be tota l l y reflected
each tim e and trapped with i n the g l a s s . Reflected from
side to side, the l ight ray wi l l be conducted a long the
rod like water i n a hose. Final ly, the l igh-t ray hits the
end of the rod at a s ma l l angle to the perpend i c u l a r and
light ray traveling through fiber

A big advance i n fi ber optics

came with the development of very
fine clear fibers encased in a
th i n coating of l ower refractive
index.
Total
reflection
takes
place between the fiber and its
coating. The fibers a re so thin
( a few micron s in diameter) that
they a re flexible, and their coat
ings al low them to be bou nd into
bundles without i nterfering with
each other's action . Such a bun
dle can conduct light for severa l
feet. When the fibers are lined
up so they have the same re l ative
pos ition at each end of the bun
d le, they can transmit i mage s .
This m a k e s pos s i ble a sort o f
super-periscope so flexible that
physicians can use it to examine
the interior of body organ s . A
sheath of unaligned fibers a round
the bundle can carry i l lumi nation
to the area being examined .

1 55

i s able to exit. Th i s explai ns th e success of bent l ucite

and g l a s s rods a s l i ght-conductors in a dvertis ing d isplays
and in simple i l l umi nati ng devi ces .
A bu nd le of fibers prod uces a gra i ny ima ge l i ke a
ha l ftone pr i nting proc ess. By drawi ng out the fibers so
th at o ne end of the bundl e is sma l l er tha n th e other, the
ima ge can be enlarg ed or reduced and its bri ghtness
changed . The quality of the image can be improved by
sha pi n g the end of th e bu nd le or by a d j u sti ng th e al ign
ment of the fibers to elimi nate di sto rtions.
M O R E I N FORMAT I ON

Burnham, Hanes, Bartleson, COLOR: A G U I DE TO BAS I C FACTS AND

CON CEPTS, New York, N . Y . : John W ile y & Son s, 1 9 6 3 . A com
pact handbook of defi n itions and facts about color.
Comm ittee on Colorimetry , Optical Society of A merica, THE S C I E NC E
O F CO LO R, New York, N . Y . : Thomas Y . Crowell Co . , 1 9 5 3 . A
complete authori tative report for the serious student, with extensive
reference and glossary.
Eastman Koda k, COLOR AS SEEN AN D P H OTOG RAP HED, Roche ster,
N . Y . : A Koda k Col or D ata Book, 1 9 6 6 . A brief explanation of
color principles and color films.
Evans, Ra lph M . , A N I NT RO D U CT I O N TO COLOR, New York , N . Y . :
J o h n W i l ey & Sons, 1 94 8 . A carefu l explanation o f all aspects of
color in nontechnica l l ang uage.
Eva ns, Ral ph M., EYE, F I LM, AN D CAMERA I N C OL O R PHOTOG
RAP H Y , N ew York, N . Y . : John W iley & Sons, 1 9 5 9 . A thorough
discussion of vi sual perception and its relation to photographic
representation .
Fowles, G rant R. , I N TROD UCTI ON TO MODERN OPT I C S , New York,
N . Y . : H olt, Rinehart & Win ston , 1 96 8 . A c ol lege textbook that
emphasizes the latest dev elopments in o ptics, i n cluding lasers.
Mann, Ida, and A. Pirie, TH E SC I E N CE OF SEE I NG , Ba ltimore, Md . :
Pel ican Books, 1 9 50. All about eyes and how they work.
Minnaert, M., THE N AT U R E OF L I G H T AND C O L O U R IN THE OPEN
A I R, N ew York, N . Y . : Dover Publications, I n c . , 1 9 5 4 . Explanations
of shadows, mirages, rainbows and similar phenomena .
Neb lette, C. B . , PHOTOGRAPHY, ITS MATERIALS A N D PROCESSES,
6th Edi tion , Van Nostran d-Reinhold Book s, New York, N . Y . : 1 96 2 .
An authoritative di scu ssion of a ll phases of photograph ic technology.
Sears, F rancis W., O PTICS, 3 rd Edition, Read ing, Ma ss . : Addison
Wesley, 1 9 4 9 . A popula r col lege textbook with excellent i ll u strations.

1 56

I N DEX

Bol dface n u mera l s i n d icate m a i n covera g e .

Aberra t i o n , 6 7
c h r o m a t i c , 66, 6 7 , 7 1
sphe r i ca l , 6 7 , 7 1 , 7 5
Absolute temperature
sca l e , 1 4
Absorpt i o n of l i g h t , 36,
40, 5 1 , 57, 99, 1 1 0,
1 39
Acco m m o d a t i o n , 68, 69,
84
A c h r o m a t i c l e n s , 66
Ac h ro m a t i c l i ght , 1 05
1 07, 1 32
Ad d i t i v e c o l o r m i x i n g ,
1 06, 1 07-1 08, 1 09,
1 1 2, 1 30, 1 3 1 , 1 32,
1 39, 1 45, 1 50
Ad vert i s i n g , i n f l u e n c e
of c o l o r , 5, 1 43
Afte r i m a ges, 1 23, 1 24
Ames' d i storted room,
96
A m p l itude, 9
And romeda, 7
Ang l e of i n c i d e n ce, 44
Ang l e of refra c t i o n , 44
Angstroms, 6
Anoma l o u s t r i c h ro m a t i s m , 1 1 3, 1 1 4
Anscochrome f i l m , 1 46
Aqueous h u mor, 8 4
Arc l a mp, 2 6 , 7 7 , 7 8
Ast i g m a t i s m , 70
Astro n o m i c a l t e l e scope,
73
Atmosphere, 2 1
Auxochrome, 1 4 1
Ba r i u m , l i ne spectru m ,
12
B i foca l g l a sses, 69
B i n o cu l a r cues, 95
B i nocu l a r v i s i o n , 95
B i nocu l a rs, 60, 72, 76
B i o l u m i nescence, 28
B l a c k body, 1 5 , 1 6- 1 8
B l i nd spot, 88
B l i nd ness, 88
c ol or , 1 1 3- 1 1 7
B o l o meter, 29
Brewster's a n g l e , 5 7
B r i g htness, 32-33, 9 1 ,
93, 1 00, 1 0 1 , 1 03 ,
1 20, 1 33
B u n s e n b u rner, 1 9
C a m e ra , 7 1 , 75, 79-8 1 ,
92, 95, 1 47

Cand l e m e a s u re, 1 5, 33
C a r b o n a rc l a m p, 1 8, 1 9
Carbon a rc, band
spectrum of, 1 2
Carbon b l ock, 1 9
Ca rbon f i l a ment l a m p ,
22
Catad i o p t r i c instruments, 71
C e l s i u s tempera t u re 1 4
C h e m i c a l energy, 1 8
C h e m i l u m i nescence, 28
C h r o m a t i c a berra t i o n ,
66, 67
C h ro mo gens, 1 4 1
C h romop hores, 1 4 1
C h romosphere, 2 1
C I E system, 1 1 7, 1 25,
1 28, 1 30-1 32
c h r o m a t i c i t y d i a g ra m ,
1 3 1 , 1 32
Coherent l i g h t waves,
49, 1 52, 1 54
C o l l i m ator, 6 1
Color
ad vert i s i n g , 5 , 1 43
b l i nd ness, 1 1 3- 1 1 7
b r i g htness, 1 00, 1 03
b u s i ness a n d i n d u s t r y , 1 42
cha rts, 1 26, 1 27
c h r o m a , 1 26, 1 27
cod es, 1 42
consta n cy, 1 20, 1 33
contra st, 1 2 1 -1 22,
1 24, 1 33
contro l , 1 42
d i ct i o n a ry of, 1 25,
1 28, 1 29
e m ot i o n a l effects of,
1 33, 1 36
harmony and d is
cord , 1 34-1 35
i m ages, 1 44, 1 45
match i n g , 83, 1 1 2,
1 1 3, 1 25, 1 30, 1 42
m i xtures 1 00,
1 06-1 1 1 , 1 1 2, 1 39
monochromatic, 1 02,
1 04,
mosa i c f u s i o n , 1 09,
1 51
n a t u re of, 98-1 1 7
n a t u re of l i g h t a n d ,
4- 1 7
n e g a t i v e , 1 44, 1 45
of l i g ht, 98
packa g i n g , 1 43

pa i nts, 1 06, 1 1 0,
1 37-1 39
pe rcept i o n , 99,
1 1 8- 1 24
photogra p h y , 1 44 - 1 47
pos i t i ve , 1 44
p r i m a r y , 1 04
psycho l o g i c a l
response, 98, 1 00,
1 26
psych o p h y s i c a l con cept, 9 8 , 1 0 1 , 1 28
p u r i ty , 1 02, 1 28
reprod u c t i o n , 1 45
sca les, 1 03
s e n sa t i o n , 1 00, 1 0 1 ,
1 02
sepa ra t i o n , 1 45, 1 46
s ta n d a rds, 1 1 2, 1 1 7
s y m bo l i s m of, 1 33,
1 36, 1 43
syste m s , 1 25 - 1 32
t e l e v i s i o n , 1 09,
1 50- 1 5 1
temperature, 1 4, 1 6,
17
t i n t s, 1 34
tones, 1 34
tra n s m i s s i o n , 1 1 0,
111
t r a n s p a r e n c y , 1 45,
1 46
v a l u e , 1 26
C o l o r b l i nd ness,
1 1 3-1 1 7
C o l o r p h otogra p h y ,
1 44- 1 47
C o l o r te l e v i s i o n , 1 09,
1 50-1 5 1
C o l o ra n t, 1 1 0, 1 1 1 , 1 40
C o l o red afte r i m a ge ,
1 23 , 1 24
C o l o red f i l te r 1 1 0, 1 1 1 ,
1 45
C o l o r i meters, 83, 1 1 2,
1 30
C o m m i ss i o n l n ter
n a t i o n a l e de
I ' E c l a i ra g e (CI E ) ,
see I n tern a t i o na l
Commission on
I l l u m ination
C o m p l e m e n t a ry h u e s ,
1 05, 1 07, 1 3 2, 1 34,
1 35
C o m p o u n d l en s e s 7 1
C o m p o u n d m i c roscope,
77

1 57

Cones, eye, 86-88 , 1 1 3 ,

118
C o n structive interference, 48-49
Contact lenses, 69, 70
Con vergence, 9 1
C o n verg i n g l e nses, 68,
69
Cooper-Hew itt mercury
a rc, 1 9
Cornea, 70, 84, 85
Critical a n g l e , 44, 1 55
C rysta l s , d o u b l e
refract i n g , 55
Dark c h a m ber, 79
Darkness, 35
Da y l i g ht, 3 1 , 1 3 1
Depth, 9 1 -93, 94
Desca rtes, 98
Destruct iv e i n terf e renc e, 48-49
Developer, 1 44, 1 46
D i ch r o m a t i s m , 1 1 3,
1 1 5, 1 1 6
D i ff ra ction, 36, 46--4 7 ,
50, 77
g r a t i n g s, 58, 62-63
Diffuse reflection, 35,
39, 1 37
D i m i n i s h i n g g l ass, 66
D i opter, 65
D i scord a nt c o l ors, 1 34,
1 35
D i spersion, 45, 62, 63,
66
D i stance, 9 1 , 94, 95
D i sti nctness, 9 1 , 93
D i verg i n g l e nses, 68, 69
Dove p r i s m , 60
Dufayco l o r f i l m, 1 45
Dyes, 1 1 0, 1 40-1 4 1 ,
1 44, 1 45, 1 46
Ea rth, 2 1
E d i s o n , T h o m a s, 1 8

E i n s te i n ,
energy equation, 7
theory of re l a t i v ity, 7
Ektachrome f i l m , 1 46
E l ectrol u m i nescence, 2 8
E l ectroma g n e t i c w a ves,
8-1 1 , 1 5 1
E l ectron bea m, 77, 1 50
E l ectron m i c roscope, 77
E l evation, 9 1 , 92
E m o t i o n a l effects of
col or, 1 33 , 1 36
E m u l s i o n s, 1 44, 1 45
Energy, rad iant, 8, 1 4,
1 5, 27, 29, 98, 1 00,
1 53

1 58

E n l a rgers, 77, 78
Eye, 29, 30, 84-97, 1 09,
1 1 3, 1 1 8
Eyeg l a sses, 68-69, 70
Eyepiece, m i croscope,
77
opera g l a sses, 72
refract i n g te l escope,
73
spy g l a ss, 72
Fahrenheit temperature,
14
Farsi ghted ness, 68
F i be r opti cs, 1 55- 1 56
F i l a m ent l a m p , 1 8, 1 9,
22, 23
F i l m , photogra p h i c , 30,
3 1 , 78, 79, 80, 8 1 ,
1 46, 1 47
F i lter, col ored, 1 1 0,
1 1 1 , 1 45
p o l a r o i d , 54
F i x i n g process,
photography, 1 44
F l u o rescence, 28, 5 2
F l u o rescent l a m p , 1 9,
23, 25, 26--2 7
f - n u m ber, 80
Foca l l e n g t h , 64; 77, 80
Foca l p o i n t , 59, 64, 65
Focus, 68, 70, 74, 76,
78, 79, 8 1 ' 84, 85
F o ur -co l o r sepa rations,
1 49
Fovea, 86, 87, 89, 1 1 4,
118
F ra u n hofer, J oseph, 62
l i nes, 1 2-1 3, 2 1
Frequency, 8, 1 0, 1 1
F u l l - co l o r rep rod uction,
1 49
Gabor, D e n n i s, 1 54
Ga l i leo, 37, 72
G a m m a rays, 9
Ga n g l i a , eye, 87
Geomet r i c a l opti cs, 58
G l a re, 54
G l a ss f i ber bund l e ,
1 55, 1 56
G l o w tu be, 1 9, 24-25,
26
G r a t i n g s , d iffract i o n ,
58, 62-63
Gravu re, p r i n t i n g , 1 48
H a l e tel escope, 74
H a r m o n i o u s colors,
1 33 , 1 34, 1 35
Heat ra ys, 1 0
H o l ography, 1 54

H o l og r a m , 1 54
H ue, 1 00, 1 0 1 -1 1 2, 1 1 5,
1 26, 1 27, 1 32, 1 34,
1 35, 1 36
I l l u m i nance, 33, 34
I l l u m i n a t i o n , 29-35 ,
76, 77, 78, 93, 99,
1 20, 1 22, 1 4 1
e l ectric, 23
I l l u s i o n s , 90, 96--9 7
I m a g e s h a rpness, 77
I mag e s , 58, 64, 67, 76,
77, 78, 1 08, 1 44,
1 45, 1 55 ; see a lso,
rea l i ma g e , v i rt u a l
image
I n ca ndescent f i l a me n t
l a m p, 1 2, 1 8, 1 9,
22-23, 1 3 1
I n c i d e n t f l u x , 33
I n c i d e n t l i g h t, 36, 4 1 ,
43, 44, 52, 57
I n fra red r a d i a t i o n , 9,
1 0, 1 5, 27
I n h e r i ta n c e , c o l o r
b l i n d ness, 1 1 5
I n ta g l io, 1 48
I n t e n s i ty of l i g h t , 1 5,
30, 32, 33, 82, 99
I n terference, 36, 48-49,
50
I n te r n a l reflect i o n , 44,
60, 76
I nte r n a t i o n a l C o m m i s
sion on I l l u m i na
tion (Com m i ssion
l n ternationa l e d e
I ' E cl a i ra g e -C I E ) ,
1 1 7, 1 30 ; see a lso
C I E system
I nte r n a t i o n a l sta n d a r d
i zed l i g h t sou rces,
17
I r idescent co l o rs, 49
I r is, 84, 85
Ke l v i n temperatu re, 1 4
K od a c h ro m e f i l m , 1 46
L a n d , Ed w i n , 56
camera ( P o l a ro i d ) ,
1 47
Lasers, 1 52-1 53, 1 54
Latent i m a ge, 1 44
Lens, opt i ca l , 58, 64-8 1
a berra t i o n s , 6 7
a c h ro m a t i c , 66
ca mera , 79, 80, 8 1
c h ro m a t i c a b e r r a t i o n , 66, 67
c om p o u n d , 7 1

conde n s i n g , 78
contact, 69, 70
converg i n g , 64
correct i n g , 15
c u r ved g l ass, 64
cylind r i ca l , 70
d i ve rg i n g , 66, 69
d o u b l e -concave, 66
d o u b l e -convex, 64
e q u i co n cave, 66
m i c roscope, 7 1 , 77
n e g a t i v e , 66, 69
n e g a t i ve m e n i scus,
66
o b j ecti ve, 7 1 , 73, 76
ocu l a r, 76, 77
p l a n oconcave, 66
p l a n oconvex, 64
pos i t i ve, 64, 68, 69,
73, 77
pos i t i ve m e n i scus, 64
projector, 78
s p h e r i ca l a be r ra t i o n ,
67
t e l e p h oto, 7 1
lens, e y e , 6 8 , 69, 70,
84-85, 88, 93
letterpress, 1 48
light
absorption, 36, 5 1 ,
54, 99, 1 1 0, 1 39
behavior, 36-57
b r i g htness, 32-33,
9 1 , 93, 1 00, 1 03 ,
1 20, 1 33
cond u ctors, 1 55
d i ff ra c t i o n , 36, 46-47,
50, 77
d i s pe r s i o n , 45, 62,
63, 66
e n te r i n g the eye, 87
i n c i d e n t , 36, 4 1 , 43,
44, 52, 57
i n t e n s i t y , 1 5, 30, 32,
33, 82, 99
i n te rference, 36,
48-49, 50
measurement, 6, 29,
30, 33
meter, 29
monochromatic, 1 3,
1 0 1 , 1 02, 1 04, 1 07,
1 1 2 , 1 52, 1 53
photons 24, 25, 86
p o l a r i :j:ed , 53-56, 57
rays, 57, 67, 78, 8 1 ,
84, 98
reflected, 35, 36,
39-4 1 , 44, 49, 50,
54, 58, 60, 98, 99
refra ct i o n , 36, 40,
42-43, 57, 58, 60

scatte r i n g , 2 1 , 36,
50, 54, 99
see i n g , 84
sou rces, 1 7, 1 8-28, 63
speed of, 7, 37-38,
42, 43
t ra n s m i s s i o n, 36, 1 55
v i s i b l e, 1 0
waves, 6, 8, 9, 1 0, 1 1
w h ite, 1 3, 1 7, 45, 1 00,
1 02, 1 05, 1 1 1 , 1 1 2
l i g h t a n d c o l or, a s
too l s , 1 33- 1 56
n a t u re of, 4 - 1 7
l i g htness, 35, 1 03
l i n otype, 1 48
l i ppershey, H a n s , 72
l i t h o g r a p h y , 1 48- 1 49
l u mens, 33
l u m i n a n ce, 32, 33, 1 02,
1 03, 1 2 8, 1 52, 1 53
l u m i n e scence, 28
l u m i nos i ty, 30, 1 1 4
l u m i n o u s f l ux, 33
l u x mea su re, 33
Macu l a l u tea, eye, 86
M a g n i f i c a t i o n , 65, 7 1 ,
73, 76, 77
Ma g n i f i e r,
pocket d o u b l et, 7 1
s i m p l e, 64
Measu rements, 6, 29,
30, 33
Mercu ry a rc, 1 9, 26
Metric system, 6
M i c h e l so n, A l bert A . , 38
M i croscope, 6 4 , 7 1 , 77
M i rrors, 4 1 , 44, 58-59,
6 1 , 64, 67, 74, 75,

77

Mo noc h ro m a t i c l i ght,
1 3, 1 0 1 , 1 02, 1 04,
1 07, 1 1 2, 1 52, 1 53
M o n o c h rom a t i s m , 1 1 3,
1 14
Monochromator, 63
Monochrome tube, 1 50
Monocu l a r cues, 95
Moo n l i g h t, 86
Mord a n t, 1 40
Mosa i c add i t i ve c o l o r
m i x i n g , 1 50
Mosa i c f u s i o n , 1 09, 1 5 1
Mosa i c system f i l m , 1 45
Motion, 91
p a ra l l a x , 94, 95
M u l t i l a y e r f i l m , 1 46,
1 47
M u n se l l , A l be rt, H . , 1 26
c o l o r system, 1 25,
1 26-1 27, 1 30

M u s c l e s , c i l i a r y , 85
N a t i o n a l B u rea u of
Sta n d a rd s , 1 27
Nea r s i g hted n e s s , 66, 69
N e g a t i v e l e n se s , 66, 69
Neon, 1 9, 24-25
New to n, S i r I sa a c, 45
Newto n i a n t e l escope,
74
N ic o l p r i s m , 57
N o n - co h e r e n t l i g h t
waves, 49, 1 52
Nuclear energy, 1 8
O b ject i v e l e n s , 7 1 , 76
Offset l i t h o g r a p h y , 1 49
Opera g l a s s, 72
O p t i c a x i s, 59, 64
O p t i c c h i a s m a , 88, 89
O p t i c nerve, 85, 86, 87,
88, 89, 90
Optica l i l l u s i o n , 90,
96-97
O p t i ca l i n s t r u m e n t s
58-83
O p t i ca l Society of
A m e r i ca , 5
O r g a n i c d y es, 1 4 1
Ostwa l d c o l o r s y stem,
1 25, 1 28-1 29, 1 30
P a i nts, 1 06, 1 1 0,
1 37-1 39
P a r a bo l i c m i rror, 58, 75
P a r a bo l o i d a l m i rror,
74, 75
P a ra l l a x , 94, 9 5
P a sc h e n spectrog raph ,
63
P e n u m bra , 34
Percept i o n , 32, 35, 90,
94, 95, 96, 99,
1 1 8- 1 24
P e r i scopes, 60, 1 55
Perspect i ve , 9 1
P h o s ph orescence, 28,
52
P h ospho r s , 52
P h otoe l e c t r i c ce l l , 80
P h ot o g ra p h y , 56, 7 1 ,
78, 79-8 1 , 92, 95,
1 44- 1 47
P h otometers, 29, 82
P h ot o m e t r i c u n i t s , 33
P h otometry, 3 2
P h otons, 24, 25, 86, 1 53
P h ot o s p h e re, 2 1
P h oto-typesett i n g , 1 48
P i g m ents, 87, 1 06, 1 1 0,
1 1 8, 1 37- 1 39
P i n h o l e ca m e r a , 79

1 59

P l a n e m i rror, 58
P l a n e of v i b ra t i o n , 54
P o l a color f i l m , 1 47
P o l a r iscope, 55
P o l a r i zat ion processes,
36, 57
P o l a r i zed l i g ht, 53-56,
57
P o l a ro i d , 54, 56, 57
L a n d camera, 1 47
Positive l e n ses, 64,
68-69
Positive transparency,
1 45
P resses, h i g h - speed,
1 48
P r i m a ry c o l o rs, 1 04
P r i n t i n g , 1 48, 1 49
P r i s m s, 55, 58, 60-61 ,
62, 63, 76
Projectors, 77, 78
P u p i l , eye, 84, 85
P u rity of c o l or, 1 02, 1 28

Rad i a t ion, 9, 1 0, 1 1 , 1 4,
1 5, 22, 26, 1 53
d e tectors, 29, 90
pyrometry, 2 1
Ra i n bow, 4 , 5 , 98
Rea l i m age, 58, 59, ,65,
66, 77, 1 54
Reflect i n g t e l escopes,
74
Reflect i o n , 35, 36,
39-4 1 , 44, 49, 50,
57, 58, 60, 98, 99
Refl ectors, 6 1 , 7 1 , 74,
78
Refracti n g t e l escopes,
73
Refract i o n , 36, 40,
42-43, 57, 58, 60,
98
Refractive i nd e x , 42,
43, 45, 57, 60
Refractors, 7 1
Regu l a r ref l ecti o n , 3 9 ,
1 37
Reso l v i n g , 1 09
Ret i n a , 84, 86, 87, 88,
89, 90, 9 1 , 1 09, 1 1 8
Retinene, 86
R h odops i n , 86
Ridgway, Robert, 1 28
Rods, eye, 86, 1 1 8
Roemer, O l af, 37, 38
Roto g ravu re, 1 48
Row l a nd , H e n ry A., 62

1 60

Sacc h a r i meter, 54
Satura t i o n , 1 00, 1 0 1 ,
1 02, 1 03, 1 1 5, 1 26,
1 34, 1 35, 1 36
Scatte r i n g , 2 1 , 36, 50,
57, 99
Sch m i d t camera, 75
Screen, pro jector, 77, 78
Sensation of s i g h t, 90,
98, 1 03
Senses, 4, 1 0, 90, 1 00
Shadowgrams, 9
Shadows, 34, 98, 1 22,
1 33
S i l ver h a l ide crysta l s ,
1 44, 1 45
S i m u l taneo us c o l o r
contrast, 1 2 1 , 1 24
S i ze, known ( o r
i m a g i n ed } , 94
Sod i u m, spect rum of,
25
vapor l a m ps, 25
Sound, speed of, 7
Spectro graph, 5, 1 2,
6 1 , 63
Spectrometer, 6 1
S pectroscopes, 63
Spectru m , 5, 1 0-1 3, 25,
62, 98, 1 1 7
Spherica l a berra t i o n ,
67, 75
Sprea d i n g effect,
col ors, 1 24
Spy g l ass, 72
Sta n d a rd i l l u m i n a t i o n ,
141
Sta n d a rd l i g h t sou rces,
1 7, 83, 1 1 7
Sta n d a rd l u m ino sity
curve, 29, 30 , 1 30
Sta rs, c o l o r - te m perature
c l a ssification, 1 6
Stereo camera, 95
Su btract ive color m i x
i n g , 1 06, 1 1 0-1 1 1 ,
1 1 2, 1 39
Successive afte r i m a ges,
1 24
S u n , 1 5, 20-2 1
S u n l a m p, 26
Su n l i g ht, 1 3, 1 7, 2 1 , 98,
99, 1 3 1
Suntan, 9
Su perpos i t i o n , 9 1 , 92
Su rfa ce i l l u m i na t i o n , 34
Suspensory l i gament,
eye, 85

Symbo l i s m of c o l o r,
1 3 3, 1 36, 1 43
Te l e p h oto l e ns, 73
Te l e s cope, 64, 72, 75, 76
refract i n g , 73
refl e ct i n g , 74
Te l e v i s i o n , col o r, 1 09,
1 50-1 5 1
Te m p e r a t u re, 1 4
c o l or, 1 4, 1 6 , 1 7
Terrestr i a l t e l e scope, 72
T h e r m a l rays, 1 0
T h e r m o p i l e , 29
Tou r m a l i n e, 53, . 54, 56
Tra n s m i ss i o n of l i g ht,
36
Transpa rency, c o l o r
f i l m , 1 45, 1 46
Trichromat, 1 1 3, 1 1 4
Tri p l e m i r ro r, 6 1
T u n g s ten l a m p s, 22, 77,
78
U l t r a v i o l e t rays, 9, 1 5,
26, 27
U m bra, 34
U n ive rsa l constant, 7
U n sa t u rated c o l o rs , 1 36
V i rt u a l i ma g e , 58, 59,
65, 66, 77, 1 54
V i s i o n , 84-97
co l o r, 98- 1 1 7, 1 1 81 24
V i s u a l p u r p l e , 86
V i treous h u m o r, 84
Water wa ves, d i ff raction of, 46
Wave crests, 8, 9, 48
W a v e l e n g t h , def i n i
tion, 9
d o m i n a nt, 1 0 1 , 1 1 2,
1 28, 1 30
of i n f r a red ra y s , 1 1
o f l i g h t, 1 0, 39, 46,
77
o f v i s i b l e rays, 1 1
Wel s b a c h g a s m a n t l e ,
1 8, 1 9
W h i te l i g ht, see L i g h t
X - ra y s , 9
Ye l l ow spot, eye, 86

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