Light and Matter

• Light corpuscles vs. light waves
• The magic of small apertures
• The great electromagnetic unification
• Heat, light, and thermodynamics

Now that we’re familiar with the first prominent branch of classical physics, we will briefly explore the second. Only then will we have the perspective needed to truly appreciate just how wacky—and wonderful—quantum physics really is.

We will meet a bearded man of greatness who brought two seemingly irreconcilable halves into a whole in the 1860s. We’re referring not to Abraham Lincoln, but to James Clerk Maxwell. His remarkable efforts married electricity to magnetism, and ultimately revolutionized our understanding of light.

Then, we’ll briefly explore the links between light, color, and heat. In doing so, we will stumble upon not only a curious mystery of nineteenth century physics, but also the first domino to fall on the path from classical to quantum physics.