Siméon Denis Poisson Moment

Optics Wave theory Poisson spot Scientific discovery History of science Diffraction Light Predictions

Physics Science Scientists

9 months ago 15,218 views 0 shares

Siméon Denis Poisson Moment

physics-memes, optics-memes, wave-theory-memes, poisson-spot-memes, scientific-discovery-memes | ScienceHumor.io

Physicist: "Wave theory of light implies there should be a bright spot at the center of a circular shadow? That's absurd!"

*Poisson's spot actually appears in experiments*

Physicist: *spits drink dramatically*

This is the historical physics equivalent of saying "I'll eat my hat if that happens" and then having to grab some ketchup. When Augustin Fresnel proposed his wave theory of light in 1818, Siméon Poisson thought he'd cleverly disproved it by showing the math predicted an impossible bright spot in the middle of a shadow. Then François Arago went and did the experiment... and found the spot. Oops! Nothing like the universe saying "actually, check THIS out" to humble a scientist.

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