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Euclid (~300 BCE): His main work was the writing of the five books of “Optica”, in which he presented the laws of reflection. However, he failed to recognize the laws of refraction. This limitation was later addressed by other scientists such as Ibn Sahl and later Snell.
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Ptolemy (100-170 AD): He expanded upon Euclid’s work and conducted the first recorded experiment in Optics, focusing on the refraction of light. His measurements were not accurate as he assumed the medium’s refractive index was linearly related to the angle of incidence, which was later corrected by Ibn Sahl.
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Ibn Sahl (940-1000 AD): In the 10th century, this Persian mathematician described the law of refraction geometrically, but his work was not widely known or recognized until it was rediscovered in the 1960s.
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Snell (1580-1626): In the 17th century, Snell discovered the law of refraction, known as Snell’s law. However, his law had limitations when it came to explaining wave behaviours of light, which was later refined by Fresnel using Huygens’ wave theory.
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Isaac Newton (1643-1727): Newton proposed the corpuscular theory of light, explaining reflection and refraction, but failed to satisfactorily explain diffraction and interference. He was also criticized for his lack of experimental evidence. His theory was later replaced by Huygens’ wave theory.
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Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695): Huygens proposed the wave theory of light and the Huygens–Fresnel principle, providing the basis for the understanding of wave propagation, including refraction and diffraction. However, his theory couldn’t explain the photoelectric effect which was later explained by Albert Einstein’s quantum theory.
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James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879): Maxwell developed the electromagnetic theory of light, which combined electricity, magnetism, and light. He was not able to experimentally confirm the electromagnetic nature of light, which was later proved by Heinrich Hertz.
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Albert Einstein (1879-1955): Einstein developed the quantum theory of light, explaining the photoelectric effect and introducing the concept of photons. His theory was initially considered radical and was not universally accepted until the development of quantum mechanics.
The continual refinement of theories and models in geometrical optics over the centuries highlights the iterative nature of scientific discovery, where each successive scientist builds upon the work of their predecessors.