Newton's Optical Papers
In the mid-1660s, Newton became so fascinated by the nature of light and vision that he seriously risked blinding himself by staring at the sun, and by poking the sides of his eyeball with a 'bodkin' (i.e. a small knife), in order to assess how such activities would affect his sight. These experiments, together with a number of rather more sensible ones, led him to formulate revolutionary theories about the nature of the spectrum and the refraction of light.
Newton burst onto the scientific world on 19 February 1672 with the publication, in the Royal Society's journal Philosophical Transactions, of his 'New Theory about Light and Colors', recounting the experiments he had conducted six years earlier which led him to the conclusion 'that Light it self is a Heterogeneous mixture of differently refrangible Rays'. This seems a commonplace enough remark today but at the time it stood all the accepted theories of the nature of light on their heads and elicited a number of critical responses to which Newton reacted very badly.
Newton's own writings on optics can be accessed from the table below. Those interested in understanding the debates that Newton's theories engendered can access both Newton's writings and the critical responses to them from our survey of Newton's Optical Disputes.
Optical papers sorted by date
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| NATP00001 [View Record] | Title: Pierpont Morgan Notebook Location: Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, USA |
| THEM00092 [View Record] | Title: 'Quæstiones quædam Philosophiæ' ('Certain Philosophical Questions') Shelfmark: MS Add. 3996 Location: Cambridge University Library, Cambridge, UK |
| NATP00004 [View Record] | Title: 'Of Colours' Shelfmark: MS Add. 3975, pp. 1-22 Location: Cambridge University Library, Cambridge, UK |
| NATP00003 [View Record] | Title: Draft of 'A Theory Concerning Light and Colors' Shelfmark: MS Add. 3970.3, ff.460-466 Location: Cambridge University Library, Cambridge, UK |
| NATP00006 [View Record] | Title: A Letter of Mr. Isaac Newton … containing his New Theory about Light and Colors Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 80 (19 Feb. 1671/2), pp. 3075-3087. |
| NATP00007 [View Record] | Title: An Accompt of a New Catadioptrical Telescope invented by Mr. Newton Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 81 (25 March 1672), pp. 4004-4007. |
| NATP00030 [View Record] | Title: An Extract of a Letter, received very lately, (March 19th) from the Inventor of this new Telescope, from Cambridge Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 81 (25 March 1672), pp. 4009-4010. |
| NATP00008 [View Record] | Title: Mr. Newton's Letter … containing some more suggestions about his New Telescope Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 82 (22 April 1672), pp. 4032-4034. |
| NATP00009 [View Record] | Title: An Extract of another Letter … by way of an answer to some Objections, made by an Ingenious French Philosopher [Adrien Auzout] to the New Reflecting Telescope Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 82 (22 April 1672), pp. 4034-4035. |
| NATP00010 [View Record] | Title: Mr. Isaac Newton's Considerations upon part of a Letter of Monsieur De Bercé Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 83 (20 May 1672), pp. 4056-4059. |
| NATP00053 [View Record] | Title: The Observations, made upon these proposals [of Robert Moray] Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 83 (20 May 1672), pp. 4060-4062. |
| NATP00013 [View Record] | Title: Mr Newtons Letter of April 13. 1672 … being an Answer to the fore-going Letter of P. Pardies Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 84 (17 June 1672), pp. 4091-4093. |
| NATP00014 [View Record] | Title: A Serie's of Quere's propounded by Mr. Isaac Newton … positively concluding his new Theory of Light and Colours Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 85 (15 July 1672), pp. 5004-5007. |
| NATP00029 [View Record] | Title: Mr. Newton's Answer to the foregoing Letter [of Ignace Pardies] Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 85 (15 July 1672), pp. 5014-5018. |
| NATP00028 [View Record] | Title: Mr Isaac Newtons Answer to some Considerations [of Robert Hooke] upon his doctrine of Light and Colors Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 88 (18 November 1672), pp. 5084-5103. |
| NATP00017 [View Record] | Title: Mr. Newtons Answer to the foregoing Letter [of Christiaan Huygens] Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 96 (21 July 1673), pp. 6087-6092. |
| NATP00018 [View Record] | Title: An Extract of Mr Isaac Newton's Letter … concerning the Number of Colors Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 97 (6 October 1673), pp. 6108-6111. |
| NATP00054 [View Record] | Title: An Answer to this Letter [of Francis Linus], written 5 December 1674 Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 110 (25 January 1674/5), pp. 219. |
| NATP00002 [View Record] | Title: Hypothesis explaining the properties of light Published in: Thomas Birch, The History of the Royal Society, vol. 3 (London: 1757), pp. 247-305. |
| NATP00121 [View Record] | Title: Draft of the 'Hypothesis Concerning Light and Colors' Shelfmark: MS Add. 3970.3, ff. 475r-482v Location: Cambridge University Library, Cambridge, UK |
| NATP00122 [View Record] | Title: Draft of the 'Discourse Concerning Light and Colors' Shelfmark: MS Add. 3970.3, ff. 501r-517r Location: Cambridge University Library, Cambridge, UK |
| NATP00126 [View Record] | Title: Draft of the 'Discourse Concerning Light and Colors' Shelfmark: MS Add. 3970.3, ff. 519r-529r Location: Cambridge University Library, Cambridge, UK |
| NATP00127 [View Record] | Title: Draft of the 'Discourse concerning Light and Colors' Shelfmark: MS Add. 3970.3, ff. 549r-567v Location: Cambridge University Library, Cambridge, UK |
| NATP00287 [View Record] | Title: Optical diagrams Shelfmark: MS Add. 9597/2/18/89-90 Location: Cambridge University Library, Cambridge, UK |
| NATP00120 [View Record] | Title: Covering letter to the Hypothesis, Dec. 7 1675 Shelfmark: MS Add. 3970.3, f. 459r-v Location: Cambridge University Library, Cambridge, UK |
| NATP00022 [View Record] | Title: Mr. Isaac Newton's Considerations on the former Reply [of Francis Linus] Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 121 (24 January 1675/6), pp. 501-502. |
| NATP00023 [View Record] | Title: An extract of another Letter of Mr. Newton Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 121 (24 January 1675/6), pp. 503-504. |
| NATP00024 [View Record] | Title: A particular Answer of Mr. Isaak Newton to Mr. Linus his Letter Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 123 (25 March 1676), pp. 556-561. |
| NATP00026 [View Record] | Title: Mr Newton's Answer to the precedent Letter Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 128 (25 September 1676), pp. 698-705. |
| NATP00031 [View Record] | Title: Opticks: Or, A treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. Also Two treatises of the Species and Magnitude of Curvilinear Figures (London: 1704)
Published in: Opticks: Or, A treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. Also Two treatises of the Species and Magnitude of Curvilinear Figures (London: 1704). |
| NATP00055 [View Record] | Title: Draft Versions of 'The Queries' Shelfmark: MS Add. 3970.3, ff. 231r-301r, 359r, 477v-478r, 610r-612r, 618r-623r Location: Cambridge University Library, Cambridge, UK |
| NATP00062 [View Record] | Title: Optice: Sive De Reflexionibus, Refractionibus, Inflexionibus & Coloribus Lucis. Libri Tres (London: 1706)
Published in: Optice: Sive De Reflexionibus, Refractionibus, Inflexionibus & Coloribus Lucis. Libri Tres. (London: 1706). |
| NATP00043 [View Record] | Title: Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. The Second Edition, with Additions (London: 1718)
Published in: Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. The Second Edition, with Additions (London: 1718). |
| NATP00027 [View Record] | Title: An Instrument for observing the Moon's Distance from the Fixt Stars at Sea Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, No. 465 (1742), pp. 155-156. |
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