Fraunhofer diffraction Quick reference
A Dictionary of Physics (8 ed.)
...Fraunhofer diffraction A form of diffraction in which the light source and the receiving screen are in effect at infinite distances from the diffracting object, so that the wave fronts can be treated as planar rather than spherical. In practice it involves parallel beams of light. It can be regarded as an extreme case of Fresnel diffraction but is of more practical use in explaining single and multiple slit patterns. It was studied by Joseph von Fraunhofer...
Fraunhofer diffraction
Josef von Fraunhofer
Fresnel diffraction
Fraunhofer, Joseph von (1787–1826) Quick reference
A Dictionary of Physics (8 ed.)
...Fraunhofer, Joseph von ( 1787–1826 ) German physicist , who trained as an optician. In 1814 he observed dark lines in the spectrum of the sun ( see Fraunhofer lines ). He also studied Fraunhofer diffraction...
Fraunhofer, Josef von (1787–1826) Quick reference
A Dictionary of Chemistry (8 ed.)
..., Josef von ( 1787–1826 ) German physicist , who trained as an optician. In 1814 he observed dark lines in the spectrum of the sun ( see Fraunhofer lines ). He also studied diffraction...
Fresnel diffraction Quick reference
A Dictionary of Physics (8 ed.)
...Fresnel diffraction A form of diffraction in which the light source or the receiving screen, or both, are at finite distances from the diffracting object, so that the wavefronts are not plane, as in Fraunhofer diffraction . It was studied by A. J. Fresnel...
Fraunhofer, Joseph von (1787–1826) Quick reference
World Encyclopedia
..., Joseph von ( 1787–1826 ) German physicist and optician , founder of astronomical spectroscopy. By studying the diffraction of light through narrow slits, he developed the earliest form of diffraction grating. He observed and began to map the dark lines in the Sun's spectrum ( 1814 ), now called Fraunhofer lines . Fraunhofer solved many of the scientific and technical problems of astronomical...
diffraction Quick reference
A Dictionary of Physics (8 ed.)
...diffraction The spreading or bending of waves as they pass through an aperture or round the edge of a barrier. The diffracted waves subsequently interfere with each other ( see interference ) producing regions of reinforcement and weakening. First noticed as occurring with light by Francesco Grimaldi ( 1618–63 ), the phenomenon gave considerable support to the wave theory of light. Diffraction also occurs with streams of particles because of the quantum-mechanical wave nature of such particles. See also Fresnel diffraction ; Fraunhofer diffraction ;...
Fraunhofer, Joseph von (1787–1826) Quick reference
A Dictionary of Astronomy (3 ed.)
..., Joseph von ( 1787–1826 ) German physicist and optician . In 1814 he made the first spectrometer, to measure the dispersive power of lenses, using a yellow flame as the light source. He compared the flame spectrum with a spectrum of the Sun produced by a prism, noting and recording the positions of the Sun’s Fraunhofer lines . He later noted similar lines in the spectra of other stars. Fraunhofer also made achromatic lenses and the first diffraction grating, developed the equatorial mount, and constructed the 16-cm heliometer used by F. W....
spectroscope Quick reference
A Dictionary of Physics (8 ed.)
...observation. The first such instrument was made by Joseph von Fraunhofer ; in its simplest form it consists of a hollow tube with a slit at one end by which the light enters and a collimating lens at the other end to produce a parallel beam, a prism to disperse the light, and a telescope for viewing the spectrum. In the spectrograph , the spectroscope is provided with a camera to record the spectrum. For a broad range of spectroscopic work, from the ultraviolet to the infrared, a diffraction grating is used instead of a prism. See also spectrometer . ...
spectroscopy Reference library
The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science
...of atomic structure . The discovery of the diffraction of X rays in 1911 led to high-frequency spectroscopy with crystals rather than glass prisms as analyzers, and to important information about the deeper reaches of atoms. The obvious benefit of the spectroscope to a wide range of scientific and technical activities prompted its commercial manufacture by a large number of instrument makers throughout Europe. The instrument was refined and developed during the late nineteenth century by substituting diffraction gratings or hollow prisms filled with carbon...
Stokes, Sir George Gabriel Quick reference
A Dictionary of Scientists
...enough problems arose with his own ideas. Stokes was perceptive in his views of other physicists' work. For example, he was among the first to appreciate the importance of the work of James Joule and to see the true meaning of the spectral lines discovered by Joseph von Fraunhofer...
optics and vision Reference library
The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science
...achromatic doublet, Joseph Fraunhofer , a Bavarian skilled artisan and optician working in the secularized Benedictine monastery of Benediktbeuern, improved upon a complex glass-stirring technique first developed by Pierre Louis Guinand , a Swiss bell pourer. With this method, Fraunhofer was able to manufacture flint glass of unprecedented homogeneity in the 1810s and 1820s. In addition to this crucial technological development, Fraunhofer reckoned that he could use the dark lines of the solar spectrum (later called the Fraunhofer lines), which his superior...
microscope Reference library
The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science
...the simple microscope. Achromatic telescope objectives consisting of lenses combining crown and flint glass were first made in the later eighteenth century ( See Optics and Vision ). Although manufacturing the smaller lenses of microscopes proved much more difficult, Joseph Fraunhofer and other instrument makers produced achromatic microscope objectives of low magnification by the early nineteenth century. After Joseph Jackson Lister showed in 1830 how to construct aplanatic objectives (achromats with minimal spherical aberration), achromatic...
Fraunhofer, Josef von (1787–1826) Reference library
The New Oxford Dictionary for Scientific Writers and Editors (2 ed.)
..., Josef von ( 1787–1826 ) German physicist and optician . Fraunhofer diffraction Fraunhofer...
Physics: c. 13.7 billion years ago - 2010
...in gases (discovered in 1801) Dalton, John (1766–1844) World Encyclopedia 1 19th century Britain 1750-1900 Science Chemistry Great Britain - from 1707 United Kingdom - from 1801 British Isles Europe Britain 1817 1817 German physicist Joseph von Fraunhofer observes and draws dark lines in the solar spectrum Fraunhofer, Joseph von (1787–1826) World Encyclopedia 1 19th century Science Germany 1820 1820 French physicist André Marie Ampère begins his researches into the links between electricity and magnetism Ampère, André Marie (1775–1836) World Encyclopedia 1...
Science: c. 13.7 billion years ago - 2011
...a young female patient, finds a solution in the stethoscope Laënnec, René Théophile Hyacinthe (1781–1826) A Dictionary of Scientists 1 19th century Medicine Technology Inventions and discoveries Europe France 1817 1817 German physicist Joseph von Fraunhofer observes and draws dark lines in the solar spectrum Fraunhofer, Joseph von (1787–1826) World Encyclopedia 1 19th century Physics Germany 1820 1820 French physicist André Marie Ampère begins his researches into the links between electricity and magnetism Ampère, André Marie (1775–1836) World Encyclopedia 1...
