INVISIBILITY i9
found that these electric-magnetic fields would create a wave, much
like an ocean wave. To his astonishment, he calculated the speed of
these waves and found it to be the speed of light! In 1864, upon discovering this fact, he wrote prophetically: "This velocity is so nearly that
of light that it seems we have strong reason to conclude that light itself ... is an electromagnetic disturbance."
It was perhaps one of the greatest discoveries in human history.
For the first time the secret of light was finally revealed. Maxwell suddenly realized that everything from the brilliance of the sunrise, the
blaze of the setting sun, the dazzling colors of the rainbow, and the firmament of stars in the heavens could be described by the waves he
was scribbling on a sheet of paper. Today we realize that the entire
electromagnetic spectrum-from radar to TV, infrared light, visible
light, ultraviolet light, X-rays, microwaves, and gamma rays-is nothing
but Maxwell waves, which in turn are vibrating Faraday force fields.
Commenting on the importance of Maxwell's equations, Einstein
wrote that they are "the most profound and the most fruitful that
physics has experienced since the time of Newton."
(Tragically, Maxwell, one of the greatest physicists of the nineteenth century, died at the early age of forty-eight of stomach cancer,
probably the very same disease that killed his mother at the same age.
If he had lived longer, he might have discovered that his equations allowed for distortions of space-time that would lead directly to Einstein's relativity theory. It is staggering to realize that relativity might
possibly have been discovered at the time of the American Civil War
had Maxwell lived longer.)
Maxwell's theory of light and the atomic theory give simple explanations for optics and invisibility. In a solid, the atoms are tightly
packed, while in a liquid or gas the molecules are spaced much farther
apart. Most solids are opaque because light rays cannot pass through
the dense matrix of atoms in a solid, which act like a brick wall. Many
liquids and gases, by contrast, are transparent because light can pass
more readily between the large spaces between their atoms, a space
that is larger than the wavelength of visible light. For example, water,
found that these electric-magnetic fields would create a wave, much
like an ocean wave. To his astonishment, he calculated the speed of
these waves and found it to be the speed of light! In 1864, upon discovering this fact, he wrote prophetically: "This velocity is so nearly that
of light that it seems we have strong reason to conclude that light itself ... is an electromagnetic disturbance."
It was perhaps one of the greatest discoveries in human history.
For the first time the secret of light was finally revealed. Maxwell suddenly realized that everything from the brilliance of the sunrise, the
blaze of the setting sun, the dazzling colors of the rainbow, and the firmament of stars in the heavens could be described by the waves he
was scribbling on a sheet of paper. Today we realize that the entire
electromagnetic spectrum-from radar to TV, infrared light, visible
light, ultraviolet light, X-rays, microwaves, and gamma rays-is nothing
but Maxwell waves, which in turn are vibrating Faraday force fields.
Commenting on the importance of Maxwell's equations, Einstein
wrote that they are "the most profound and the most fruitful that
physics has experienced since the time of Newton."
(Tragically, Maxwell, one of the greatest physicists of the nineteenth century, died at the early age of forty-eight of stomach cancer,
probably the very same disease that killed his mother at the same age.
If he had lived longer, he might have discovered that his equations allowed for distortions of space-time that would lead directly to Einstein's relativity theory. It is staggering to realize that relativity might
possibly have been discovered at the time of the American Civil War
had Maxwell lived longer.)
Maxwell's theory of light and the atomic theory give simple explanations for optics and invisibility. In a solid, the atoms are tightly
packed, while in a liquid or gas the molecules are spaced much farther
apart. Most solids are opaque because light rays cannot pass through
the dense matrix of atoms in a solid, which act like a brick wall. Many
liquids and gases, by contrast, are transparent because light can pass
more readily between the large spaces between their atoms, a space
that is larger than the wavelength of visible light. For example, water,