Isaac Newton and Understanding Color

Newton was so devoted to understanding color that he poked himself in the eye one day - on purpose. He hoped to better understand the optics of colors and light.

He eventually figured out a safer and better means. He used a prism.

GALLERY OF IMAGES: ISAAC NEWTON AND OPTICS

In a dark room, he directed a ray of sunlight through a prism and saw that seven colors of light were transmitted out through the other side.

He then passed those through a second prism and saw that they did not divide further. He thus ascertained that white light was made up of seven colors.

POSTERS AND T-SHIRTS OF SIR ISAAC NEWTON

Isaac Newton (December 25, 1642 - March 20, 1727) was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian. His monograph "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica", published in 1687, lays the foundations for most of classical mechanics.