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The Duality of Light: Particle or Wave?

Selected Literature References

Whether light can be better described as a continuous wave or a collection of particles has challenged many great physicists over the ages, resulting in a variety of theories to support both models. The dual nature of light, which is manifested in properties that are at times consistent with either or both corpuscular (particle) and wave theories, is discussed in the review articles and books listed in this literature reference section.

The propagation of light., Hecht, E., in Optics, 4th edition, Addison-Wesley, San Francisco, California, pages 86-148 (2002).

Light and Color., Murphy, D., in Fundamentals of Light Microscopy and Electronic Imaging, Wiley-Liss, New York, pages 15-27 (2001).

The mystery of light., Rossing, T. and Chiaverina, C., in Light Science: Physics and the Visual Arts, Springer-Verlag, New York, pages 23-48 (1999).

A Natural History of Vision., Wade, N., The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 466 pages (1998).

Ultimate Visual Dictionary of Science., Maiklem, L. and Lach, W. (eds), DK Publishing, New York, 448 pages (1998).

Empire of Light: A History of Discovery in Science and Art., Perkowitz, S., Henry Holt and Company, New York, 227 pages (1996).

Optical generation of the visual stimulus., Charman, W., in Handbook of Optics, Volume 1: Fundamental, Techniques, and Design, 2nd edition, Bass, M., Van Stryland, E., Williams, D., and Wolfe, W. (eds), McGraw-Hill, New York, pages 28.1-28.29 (1995).

Velocity of light., Michelson, A., in Studies in Optics, Dover Publications, Mineola, New York, 120-138; 139-155 (1995).

Light and Color in the Outdoors, 5th edition,. Minnaert, M., Seymour, L. (translator and reviser), Springer-Verlag, New York, 417 pages (1993).

Light (The Eyewitness Science Series, 2)., Burnie, D., DK Publishing, New York, 64 pages (1992).

Optics, the Science of Vision., Ronchi, V., Dover Publications, Mineola, New York, 360 pages (1991).

Wave and particle conflict., Ditchburn, R., in Light, Dover Publications, Mineola, New York, pages 5-6; 68-70; 583-587; 642-661 (1991).

Fundamental properties of light and light in modern physics., Falk, D., in Seeing the Light: Optics in Nature, Photography, Color, Vision, and Holography, John Wiley and Sons, New York, pages 3-28; 394-413 (1986).

The dual nature of light., Jenkins, F. and White, H., in Fundamentals of Optics, 4th edition, McGraw-Hill, New York, pages 698-713 (1976).

Light and Vision., Mueller, C. and Rudolph, M., Time-Life, New York, 200 pages (1966).


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