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The Nature of Light and Colour in the Open Air
Rainbows, mirages, multiple moons, black snow, colored shadows, irridescent clouds, halos, green surf, and hundreds of other natural phenomena are clearly and simply explained in this unique book by Professor Minnaert of the University of Utrecht. Written with complete lucidity, it is a book not only for astronomers, physicists, and geographers, but also for artists and photographers and for anyone else who would like to know more about how to observe and understand the strange behavior of light and color in nature.
The author shows just how, when, and under what conditions to observe the fata morgana (a complex mirage in the form of a city in the sky), the scintillation of stars and planets, apparent motion in shadows and objects due to air currents, color changes due to refraction and reflection, illusions of motion and direction, effects of rapidly moving spokes, the changes in color and light due to eclipses of the sun and moon, magnificent colors on a frozen window pane, or an extended body of water, the deceptive appearance of objects beneath the surface of water, and many other such phenomena.
The theory explaining most of these effects is given in ordinary language only occasionally supplemented by elementary mathematical demonstrations. In addition, Professor Minnaert has included 202 illustrations (including 42 photographs) covering practically every phenomenon discussed. These illustrations make hundreds of details explicit so that you can identify them at sight and try the experiments outlined.
The author shows just how, when, and under what conditions to observe the fata morgana (a complex mirage in the form of a city in the sky), the scintillation of stars and planets, apparent motion in shadows and objects due to air currents, color changes due to refraction and reflection, illusions of motion and direction, effects of rapidly moving spokes, the changes in color and light due to eclipses of the sun and moon, magnificent colors on a frozen window pane, or an extended body of water, the deceptive appearance of objects beneath the surface of water, and many other such phenomena.
The theory explaining most of these effects is given in ordinary language only occasionally supplemented by elementary mathematical demonstrations. In addition, Professor Minnaert has included 202 illustrations (including 42 photographs) covering practically every phenomenon discussed. These illustrations make hundreds of details explicit so that you can identify them at sight and try the experiments outlined.
- GenresScienceArtNonfiction
416 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1954
17 people are currently reading
203 people want to read
About the author
M.G.J. Minnaert
8 books2 followersMarcel Gilles Jozef Minnaert (12 February 1893 – 26 October 1970) was a Dutch astronomer of Belgian origin. He was born in Bruges and died in Utrecht.
Minnaert obtained a PhD in biology at Ghent University in 1914. Later he obtained also a PhD in physics from Utrecht University, under the supervision of Leonard Ornstein.
He was a supporter of the Flemish movement during World War I and endorsed the replacement of French by Dutch during the German occupation of Belgium. Because of this, he was forced to flee Belgium after the end of the war.
In 1918, he found a position at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, initially to do photometric research. In Utrecht, he became interested in astronomy, and he became a pioneer of solar research. He specialized in spectroscopy and the study of stellar atmospheres. Minnaert was also interested in bubbles and musical nature of the sounds made by running water. In 1933 he published a solution for the acoustic resonance frequency of a single bubble in water, the so-called Minnaert resonance. In 1937, he was appointed director of the stellar observatory Sonnenborgh in Utrecht and full professor in astronomy at the university. In 1940, he published his famous Utrecht Atlas of the solar spectrum. In 1941, he invented the Minnaert function, which is used in optical measurements of celestial bodies.
During the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II, he was imprisoned by the Germans because of his left-wing, anti-fascist sympathies. During his incarceration, he taught physics and astronomy to his fellow prisoners. After the War, he was one of the founders of the Mathematisch Centrum in Amsterdam.
In 1946 he became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Minnaert obtained a PhD in biology at Ghent University in 1914. Later he obtained also a PhD in physics from Utrecht University, under the supervision of Leonard Ornstein.
He was a supporter of the Flemish movement during World War I and endorsed the replacement of French by Dutch during the German occupation of Belgium. Because of this, he was forced to flee Belgium after the end of the war.
In 1918, he found a position at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, initially to do photometric research. In Utrecht, he became interested in astronomy, and he became a pioneer of solar research. He specialized in spectroscopy and the study of stellar atmospheres. Minnaert was also interested in bubbles and musical nature of the sounds made by running water. In 1933 he published a solution for the acoustic resonance frequency of a single bubble in water, the so-called Minnaert resonance. In 1937, he was appointed director of the stellar observatory Sonnenborgh in Utrecht and full professor in astronomy at the university. In 1940, he published his famous Utrecht Atlas of the solar spectrum. In 1941, he invented the Minnaert function, which is used in optical measurements of celestial bodies.
During the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II, he was imprisoned by the Germans because of his left-wing, anti-fascist sympathies. During his incarceration, he taught physics and astronomy to his fellow prisoners. After the War, he was one of the founders of the Mathematisch Centrum in Amsterdam.
In 1946 he became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 30, 2018
This book is the English translation from the original Dutch, and the translation seems to do it justice.
A dear friend of mine turned me on to this wonderful book, giving me his second copy. I have since bought copies myself, and hand them out to others who might benefit from their incredible observations.
The book is an incredible compendium of hundreds of atmospheric visual phenomena, some of which are familiar but you never knew the physics and optical mechanisms behind them, and many others which you never heard of or knew existed. After reading it, I have become a much more sensitive observer of things happening around me daily. I have learned to look for the belt of Venus and the earth's shadow each sunrise and sunset and I marvel at how much we can experience of the workings of the astonishing universe in which we live.
Buy it, read it, and you will never be the same again.
A dear friend of mine turned me on to this wonderful book, giving me his second copy. I have since bought copies myself, and hand them out to others who might benefit from their incredible observations.
The book is an incredible compendium of hundreds of atmospheric visual phenomena, some of which are familiar but you never knew the physics and optical mechanisms behind them, and many others which you never heard of or knew existed. After reading it, I have become a much more sensitive observer of things happening around me daily. I have learned to look for the belt of Venus and the earth's shadow each sunrise and sunset and I marvel at how much we can experience of the workings of the astonishing universe in which we live.
Buy it, read it, and you will never be the same again.
August 15, 2017
A classic - though a little dated. If you see it in a secondhand bookshop don't hesitate.
October 12, 2014
This is a book you can just pick up when something you see puzzles you (I most recently used it to get an explanation for the red color of the eclipsed moon) , or that you can pick up when bored to find one of nature's most enchanting spectacles to cheer and animate you. A good index and organization makes it possible to find particular descriptions. More than anything else, it is Minnaert's near-boyish enthusiasm that makes the book a delight. Describing the Heiligenschein: "If there is any doubt about this phenomenon...compare your shadow with that of other people; you will see the Heiligenschein surrounding only your own head. This may lead you to philosophize! When Benevnuto Cellini, the famous Italian artist of the sixteenth century noticed it, he thought that the shimmer of light was a sign of his own genius!" (p. 231); he recounts the Scottish legend that 'anyone who has seen the green ray will never err again where matters of sentiment are concerned. In the Isle of Man it is called 'living light.'" (p. 58); and acknowledges Goethe's Theory of Colours in his discussion of after-images.
The book is available in electronic form which, because the illustrations in the original are all black-and-white and hazy at that, loses nothing of the printed book and renders it more portable for hikers and travelers, who are often in the best situations for some of the phenomena described.
The book is available in electronic form which, because the illustrations in the original are all black-and-white and hazy at that, loses nothing of the printed book and renders it more portable for hikers and travelers, who are often in the best situations for some of the phenomena described.
January 5, 2014
Go outside and use your eyes!
July 6, 2017
The bible of atmospherics.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews