Science. Nonfiction. Considering the great influence which this Treatise has exercised in the development of the Science of Optics, it seems strange that two centuries should have passed before an English edition of the work appeared. Perhaps the circumstance is due to the mistaken zeal with which formerly everything that conflicted with the cherished ideas of Newton was denounced by his followers. The Treatise on Light of Huygens has, however, withstood the test of time: and even now the exquisite skill with which he applied his conception of the propagation of waves of light to unravel the intricacies of the phenomena of the double refraction of crystals, and of the refraction of the atmosphere, will excite the admiration of the student of Optics.

Treatise on Light (French: Traité de la Lumière) is a 1690 book written by the Dutch polymath Christiaan Huygens on his wave theory of light. Huygens' starting point was Descartes' theory, as presented in the Dioptrique, which Huygens aimed to supplant. Huygens' theory is also seen as the historical rival of Newton's theory, which was presented in the Opticks.

In which are explained The causes of that which occurs In REFLEXION & in REFRACTION;

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Treatise on Light By Christiaan Huygens