| RefNo | MS/242/48 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Letter from William Hyde Wollaston to Thomas Young |
| Date | nd |
| Description | Autographed letter dated 'Monday evening 17th'.
Relates to disagreement between Wollaston and Young regarding the nature of light. Wollaston would have been glad to have met Young and his accusation, but he was busy and the hour passed by unobserved. Wollaston might 'in true Billingsgate style' have accused Young, stating that 'his infidelity savours of Judas', but asks Young to give Wollaston 'credit for a decent share of ignorance' and lack of time. States that however ready to communicate any decisive observation or decided opinion he may be, he is certainly at all times very reluctant to utter and still more so to publish any mere conjecture.
Discusses three points Young had raised;
1. Ramsden's opinion of dispersion (which he considers wrong)
2. The non-dispersion of the fixed stars
3. The comparative variation of dispersion and refraction.
Includes diagram and demonstration.
Concludes that flint glass could not by smaller deviation correct the dispersion of crown-glass but is distinct from density by a peculiar power. Awaits any further corrections. |
| Extent | 4p |
| Format | Manuscript |
| AccessStatus | Open |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA7947 | Young; Thomas (1773 - 1829); physician, physicist and Egyptologist | 1773 - 1829 |
| NA8298 | Wollaston; William Hyde (1766 - 1828); chemist, physicist and physiologist | 1766 - 1828 |