A history of light and colour measurement : science in the shadows / Sean F. Johnston.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Johnston, Sean, 1956-

Contributor:

Institute of Physics.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Colorimetry--History.

Colorimetry.

Photometry--History.

Photometry.

Radiation--Measurement--History.

Radiation.

Radiation--Measurement.

History.

Physical Description:

xi, 281 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Bristol ; Philadelphia : Institute of Physics Publishing, [2001]

Summary:

-- First book on the subject-- Author's background in physics and technology of the subject before becoming professional historian of science-- Of wider interest to historians as typical of how modern technology based industries have developed-- Should also appeal to professional working in the lighting and photographic industries

Readership: Historians of science and technology, scientists and engineers working in the fields of light and colour measurement.

Contents:

1 Introduction: Making Light Count 1

2 Light As a Law-Abiding Quantity 12

2.1 Beginnings 12

2.2 A lawless frontier 18

2.2.1 Photography: juggling variables 20

2.2.2 Astronomy: isolated forays 21

2.3 Techniques of visual photometry 22

2.3.1 Qualitative methods 22

2.3.2 Comparative methods 22

2.3.3 Physical methods 24

2.4 Studies of radiant heat 24

2.5 Describing colour 26

3 Seeing Things 33

3.1 Recurring themes 34

3.2 Altered perceptions 36

3.2.1 Astrophysics and the scientific measurement of light 37

3.2.2 Spectroscopy 41

3.2.3 Shifting standards: gas and electrotechnical photometry 42

3.2.4 Utilitarian connections 43

3.3 The 19th-century photometer 49

3.4 Prejudice and temptation: the problems in judging intensity 53

3.5 Quantifying light: n-rays versus blackbody radiation 58

4 Careers in the Shadows 72

4.1 Amateurs and independent research 72

4.2 The illuminating engineers 75

4.3 Optical societies 86

5 Laboratories and Legislation 94

5.1 Utilitarian pressures 94

5.2 The Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt 96

5.3 The National Physical Laboratory 99

5.4 The National Bureau of Standards 102

5.5 Colour at the national laboratories 104

5.6 Tracing careers 107

5.7 Weighing up the national laboratories 109

5.8 Industrial laboratories 111

5.9 Wartime photometry 114

5.10 Consolidation of practitioners 116

6 Technology in Transition 125

6.1 A fashion for physical photometry 125

6.1.1 Objectivity 126

6.1.2 Precision 128

6.1.3 Speed 129

6.1.4 Automation 129

6.2 The refinement of vision 130

6.3 Shifts of confidence 133

6.4 Physical photometry for astronomers 135

6.4.1 An awkward hybrid: photographic recording and visual analysis 135

6.4.2 A halfway house: photographic recording and photoelectric analysis 137

6.4.3 A 'more troublesome' method: direct photoelectric photometry 139

6.5 The rise of photoelectric photometry 142

6.6 Recalcitrant problems 148

6.6.1 Talbot's law 148

6.6.2 Linearity 148

6.6.3 The spectre of heterochromatic photometry 150

7 Disputing Light and Colour 159

7.1 The Commission Internationale de Photometrie 161

7.2 The Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage 162

7.3 Legislative connections 167

7.4 Constructing colorimetry 168

7.4.1 Colour at the CIE 168

7.4.2 Disciplinary divisions 176

7.4.3 Differentiating the issues 177

7.5 Voting on colour 179

7.5.1 Configuring compromise 180

7.5.2 An uncertain closure 181

8 Marketing Photometry 191

8.1 Birth of an industry 192

8.2 Technological influences 194

8.3 Linking communities 197

8.3.1 Extension of commercial expertise 200

8.3.2 New practitioners 201

8.4 Making modernity 203

8.5 Backlash to commercialization 204

8.6 New instruments and new measurements 206

8.7 Photometry for the millions 208

8.8 A better image through advertising 210

9 Militarizing Radiometry 220

9.1 The mystique of the invisible 220

9.2 Military connections 221

9.2.1 British research 222

9.2.2 American developments during the Second World War 222

9.2.3 German experiences 224

9.2.4 Post-war perspectives 225

9.2.5 New research: beyond the n-ray 227

9.2.6 New technology 227

9.3 New centres 229

9.4 New communities 230

9.5 New units, new standards 231

9.6 Commercialization of confidential expertise 232

9.6.1 New public knowledge 232

9.7 A new balance: radiometry as the 'senior' specialism 233

10 An 'Undisciplined Science' 237

10.1 Evolution of practice and technique 237

10.2 The social foundations of light 240

10.3 A peripheral science? 243

10.3.1 On being at the edge 243

10.3.2 Technique, technology or applied science? 245

10.3.3 Attributes of peripheral science 247

10.4 Epilogue: declining fortunes 248.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0750307544

OCLC:

48753910