Journal article
Bow-shaped caustics from conical prisms: a 13th-century account of rainbow formation from Robert Grosseteste’s De iride
- Abstract:
- The rainbow has been the subject of discussion across a variety of historical periods and cultures, and numerous optical explanations have been suggested. Here, we further explore the scientific treatise De iride [On the Rainbow] written by Robert Grosseteste in the 13th century. Attempting to account for the shape of the rainbow, Grosseteste bases his explanation on the optical properties of transparent cones, which he claims can give rise to arc-shaped projections through refraction. By stating that atmospheric phenomena are reducible to the geometric optics of a conical prism, the De iride lays out a coherent and testable hypothesis. Through both physical experiment and physics-based simulation, we present a novel characterization of cone–light interactions, demonstrating that transparent cones do indeed give rise to bow-shaped caustics—a nonintuitive phenomenon that suggests Grosseteste’s theory of the rainbow is likely to have been grounded in observation.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 3.0MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1364/AO.56.00G197
Authors
+ Institute
of Advanced Study at Durham University
More from this funder
- Funding agency for:
- Smithson, H
- Grant:
- Visiting Fellowship
- Publisher:
- Optical Society of America
- Journal:
- Applied Optics More from this journal
- Volume:
- 56
- Issue:
- 19
- Pages:
- G197-G204
- Publication date:
- 2017-06-30
- Acceptance date:
- 2017-04-12
- DOI:
- EISSN:
-
2155-3165
- ISSN:
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1559-128X
- Pubs id:
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pubs:689753
- UUID:
-
uuid:0d45941b-684c-4b17-94e0-68c3477e8b0d
- Local pid:
-
pubs:689753
- Source identifiers:
-
689753
- Deposit date:
-
2017-04-18
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Optical Society of America
- Copyright date:
- 2017
- Notes:
- Published by The Optical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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