Category Archives: Optics

Forgotten Milestones in the History of Optics: video!

Posted on March 29, 2020 by

Okay, here’s one more classic video from my regular seminar series: Forgotten Milestones in the History of Optics! This was one of the earliest semi-popular seminars I put together. More videos and posts to come!

Posted in History of science, Optics | 1 Comment

How Not To Be Seen: the video!

Posted on March 21, 2020 by

Continuing my series of uploaded videos, tonight I recorded a version of my How Not To Be Seen: The history and science of invisibility seminar, which I’ve given and revised for probably close to ten years now!  I’ve shared links … Continue reading →

Posted in Invisibility, Optics | Leave a comment

Vortices in beams of light and vortex coronagraphy video!

Posted on March 19, 2020 by

I while ago, I shared slides from a talk I gave at the Charlotte Amateur Astronomy Club on “Vortices in beams of light and vortex coronagraphy.” Now that I, like everyone else, am more or less homebound, I thought I … Continue reading →

Posted in Optics, Physics | Leave a comment

Visualizing the geometric phase of light!

Posted on February 5, 2020 by

Another post inspired by my book on Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics! I talk about geometric phases in the book in the context of falling cats, but here I focus on the polarization of light. I regularly argue that most … Continue reading →

Posted in Optics, Physics | Leave a comment

Vortices in beams of light and vortex coronagraphy

Posted on July 22, 2019 by

This past Friday, I was invited to give a talk at the monthly meeting of the Charlotte Amateur Astronomers Club, a lovely organization that has been around since 1954.  As a theoretical physicist, I am not that well-versed on astronomy … Continue reading →

Posted in Optics, Personal, Physics | Leave a comment

Taylor sees the (feeble) light (1909)

Posted on August 25, 2018 by

Most people, even non-scientists, are aware these days of the notion that light acts sometimes like a wave, sometimes like a particle, depending on the circumstances. This wave-particle duality is a fundamental aspect of nature, applying to all elementary particles, … Continue reading →

Posted in History of science, Optics, Physics | Leave a comment

RIP Emil Wolf, 1922-2018

Posted on June 4, 2018 by

On Saturday morning, my PhD advisor and friend Professor Emil Wolf passed away at the age of 95.  He was a singularly gifted scientist as well as an extraordinarily kind and wise person.  It is fair to say that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Optics, Personal | 7 Comments