Filozofska istraživanja, Vol. 26 No. 3, 2006.
Original scientific paper
From the Metaphysics towards the Physics of Light
Mladen Živković
Berislav Živković
Abstract
Light has been defined as a true instigator of thought (Plato, Republic 523/524) both in metaphysics and in philosophy of nature and science. This article focuses on the exceptional position of Frane Petrić as the philosopher with whom the epoch of metaphysics of light inherited from antiquity ended and the path for the new epoch of the physics of light started – especially in his work Panaugia, though not only in it. After Petrić, numerous exciting scientific discoveries occurred that resulted in profound insights into the nature of light – in geometry, and especially in physical optics: light travels with finite speed, it is complex, it is part of electromagnetic specter of radiation, it has effect on matter (photo effect), it has been related to mass and energy. Light amazes us with the duality of its nature as both a particle and a wave. The research on the radiation of dark objects and the contrast with visible light has opened the epoch of quantum
physics. The question this lecture poses is: Based on the body of knowledge about light accumulated by the physicists, could we talk about the essence of light (Max Planck)? Photonics is a new epoch in communication technology. What then could we expect from the research on photosynthesis?
Keywords
light; metaphysics; physics; Frane Petrić; Max Planck; particle; wave; quantum physics; photonics
Hrčak ID:
11163
URI
Publication date:
5.10.2006.
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