ABSTRACT
Spectrum analysis, the scientific event of 1859-60, greatly extended the range and type of spectral measurements. The scope seemed boundless; from the composition of materials to the discovery of new elements; from a confirmation that matter was built from one family of chemical elements to the demonstration that atoms in the remotest corner of the universe were identical with those everywhere else. Older generalizations made way for new viewpoints and horizons and helped to shape physical science into the forms we know today.
