Light and Dark: An exploration in science, nature, art and technology

CONTENTS......Page 6
PREFACE......Page 10
1.1 Light for life......Page 14
1.2 Wonder and worship......Page 17
1.3.1 Light from combustion......Page 19
1.3.2 Arc lamps and filament lamps......Page 22
1.3.3 Gas discharge lamps......Page 26
1.4 Light in art and entertainment......Page 28
2.1 The year......Page 32
2.2 Equinoxes and eccentricity......Page 35
2.3 The length of a day......Page 39
2.4 The length of daylight......Page 44
2.5 The length of a second......Page 50
3.1 The lunar month and the lunar orbit......Page 54
3.2 The lunar nodes and their rotation......Page 56
3.3 The lunar day......Page 61
3.4 The length of moonlight......Page 63
3.5.2 The Saros cycle......Page 68
3.5.3 Total and annular solar eclipses......Page 74
3.6 Tides......Page 76
4.1 Solar calendars......Page 80
4.2 The Roman Catholic Church and the development of astronomy......Page 83
4.3 The start of the year......Page 85
4.4 Lunar and other calendars......Page 86
4.5 Time zones......Page 90
4.6 The International Date Line......Page 93
5.1 Scattered light and twilight......Page 97
5.2 Polarization of light......Page 101
5.3 Rainbows......Page 107
5.4 Cloudy skies......Page 111
5.5 Halos......Page 112
6.1 The human eye......Page 116
6.2.1 Colour vision......Page 122
6.2.2 Colour blindness......Page 125
6.3 Polarization sensitivity......Page 127
6.4 Speed of response......Page 128
6.5 Optical illusions......Page 131
7.1 Colour vision in animals......Page 142
7.2.1 Species and subspecies......Page 144
7.2.2 Other zebra-striped animals......Page 146
7.3 Piebald coats and unusual goats......Page 147
7.4 Jellicle cats are black and white......Page 151
7.5 Cephalopods......Page 155
7.6.1 Bioluminescence in insects......Page 157
7.6.2 Bioluminescence in deep-sea fish......Page 159
7.7 More anatomical oddities......Page 160
8.1 Lighthouses......Page 163
8.2 Semaphores for optical telegraphy......Page 167
8.3 Morse, Mance and the heliograph......Page 176
8.4 Bell and the photophone......Page 179
9.1.1 Early rectification devices......Page 183
9.1.2 The solid-state rectifier......Page 185
9.1.3 The transistor......Page 188
9.2 New semiconductors for optoelectronics......Page 190
9.3 Optoelectronic semiconductor devices......Page 195
9.4 Bright light from cool solids......Page 200
10.1 Waveguides and optical fibres......Page 206
10.2 The transparency of glass......Page 208
10.3 Optical fibres......Page 211
10.4 Optical amplification......Page 216
10.5 Conveying sound by light......Page 217
10.6 The long and the short of optical communication......Page 223
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 226
C......Page 228
E......Page 229
K......Page 230
O......Page 231
R......Page 232
T......Page 233
Z......Page 234