ABSTRACT
The three characters who played a central role in the history of the theory of light were Robert Hooke, Christiaan Huygens and Isaac Newton. They made notable contributions to several fields of physics, and established the basis for a modern understanding of light even though they proposed contradictory theories. One was based on a wave interpretation, while the other considered light to be composed of small particles. The two theories, which seemed irreconcilable, aroused fierce discussion and argument among both the protagonists and their supporters. Hooke’s theoretical investigations of the nature of light have acquired notable importance, because they represent the transition from the Cartesian system to a complete wave theory. Electromagnetism, in the middle of the 19th century, consisted of a great quantity of experimental results to which Michael Faraday had contributed greatly, but was waiting for a general theory capable of their interpretation.
