Light, heat, radiation

Since the invention of fire, the use of light and heat belongs to the foundations of civilization. However, only in the 19th century is the nature of these phenomena understood in terms of the kinetic theory of heat and the theory of electromagnetism. Light and heat radiation are explained as electromagnetic waves, while heat itself is explained as the movement of molecules.

The end of the 19th century calls these theoretical results again into question. New radiation types with unusual properties are discovered. Einstein’s 1905 quantum theory of light dismisses the classical theory of light. Later, he receives the Nobel Prize for this work.

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