Abstract
I HAVE had occasion recently to re-read Goethe's Theory of Colours (1810) and have found that he described the nature of the microtopographical interference pattern given by a crystal surface, presumably from the description, that of a cleavage. In chapter 33, which deals with interference colours (Goethe calls these epoptical colours), first a precise account is given of the (already known) appearances of white light, Newton's rings produced when glass lenses are pressed together. Colour sequences at various pressures are described in detail.
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TOLANSKY, S. Goethe on Interferometry. Nature 229, 248 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/229248a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/229248a0
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