BREWSTER, DAVID. - MOTHER-OF-PEARL INVESTIGATED.

On new Properties of Light exhibited in the optical Phenomena of Mother of Pearl, and other Bodies to which the superficial structure of that Substance can be communicated. Read April, 28, 1814.

(London, W. Bulmer and Co., 1814). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from "Philosophical Transactions" 1814 - Part II. Pp. 397-418 a. 1 engraved plate. Clean and fine.

First printing of a remarkable paper in which Brewster investigates new optical phenomena in relation to mother-of-pearl and explains the optical properties peculiar to it, the communication of these properties to other bodies, the causes by which these phenomena are produced and explaining a new species of polarisation peculiar to mother-of-pearl.
The theory presented in the paper is called "Brewster’s theory" r, it attributed the iridescent colors of mother-of-pearl to light diffraction from the surface structure.

Order-nr.: 42804