Article
Article
Optics
Article By:
Pau, Stanley College of Optical Sciences, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
Last reviewed:October 2021
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.473700
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The scientific study of light, its interactions with matter, and its relevance to vision. The word "optics" comes from the Greek word for the science of the laws of sight. In modern times, optics has come to include the study of any phenomenon associated with electromagnetic radiation in the spectral range covering the infrared, visible (see illustration), and the ultraviolet, spanning the wavelengths from about 1 mm to 4 nm. Some of the various branches of optics include crystal optics, geometrical optics, meteorological optics, nonlinear optics, photonics, physical optics, and wave optics. See also: Crystal optics; Geometrical optics; Infrared radiation; Meteorological optics; Nonlinear optics; Photonics; Physical optics; Ultraviolet radiation; Vision; Wave optics
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