Abstract
I.—THE COLOURS OF “THIN FILMS.” IT is strange that the cause of the iridescent hues of insects and other animals should to a great extent still remain one of the unexplained problems of optics: theories have been advanced without end, but so far not one that is completely satisfactory. It is very significant that Prof. R. W. Wood, in speaking of certain metallic films the bright colours of which may be due to an exceedingly fine state of division, remarks: “There appears to be a large number of cases in which brilliant colours are shown which cannot be explained by any of the common laws of optics with which we are familiar. As far as I am aware, no very satisfactory explanation has ever been given of the colours of certain feathers and butterflies, and I strongly suspect there is some action of absorbing matter, in a state of very fine division, upon light waves, which is not yet completely understood.”
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ONSLOW, H. The Iridescent Colours of Insects. Nature 106, 149–152 (1920). https://doi.org/10.1038/106149a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/106149a0