On the Theory of Optical Images, with Special Reference to the Microscope. The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, Series 5, Volume 42, Issue 255, August 1896, pp. 167-195 [EXTRACT]

1896. 1st Edition. John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh (1842-1919), was an English theoretical and experimental physicist who "made seminal contributions to theoretically defining the resolving power of gratings, prisms, telescopes and microscopes" (Lord Rayleigh: A Scientific Life, The Optical Society, June 2009). He was also head of the Royal Society, winning the 1904 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his investigations of the densities of the most important gases and for his discovery of argon in connection with these studies" (Nobel Prize Committee).

In the paper offered here, his 1896 publication on the theory of optical images as applied to microscopes, Rayleigh "discusses extensively the resolution of microscopes. He is the first to deal with illuminated objects as well as with self-luminous objects. He also distinguishes between different phase relationships of the illuminated objects. Lord Rayleigh extends his investigations to different objects (points, lines, gratings) and different aperture shapes. He emphasizes the similarities of microscopes and telescopes and complains about insufficient communication between physicists and microscopists" (Lauterbach, Finding, defining and breaking the diffraction barrier in microscopy - a historical perspective, Optical Nanoscopy, Vol. 1, 8, 2012). CONDITION & DETAILS: Extract complete August 1896 issue. (8.5 x 5.5 inches; 213 x 138mm). One library stamp on the first page of the issue (not the Rayleigh paper). Otherwise bright and very clean throughout.