|
|
| William Hyde Wollaston |
| (8/6/1766 – 12/22/1828) |
| Doctor, physicist and chemist |
| |
The Englishman William Hyde Wollaston made significant theoretical and practical contributions to physics, and to optics in particular.
 | | In 1804, for example, he discovered what were later to be called Fraunhofer lines across the solar spectrum, quite independently from Fraunhofer himself. He invented the refractometer for measuring refractive indices with the aid of total reflection and developed what is known as the ”camera lucida”. Outside the field of physics, Wollaston also devoted his attention not only to chemistry, but also to physiological and chemical processes in the human organism. |
| William Hyde Wollaston |
| We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the publishers of Spektrum Akademischer Verlag for kindly providing us with pictorial material. We have taken the sketch showing the principle of Wollaston's polarizing prism from the "Lexikon der Optik" published by the Spektrum Akademischer Verlag. |
| |
|