Diffraction - the slight bending of light
Diffraction was first seen by Francesco Grimaldi in the mid-17 Century. When he shined a light through a small aperture, then passed it through a second aperture onto a screen, the spot of light on the screen was a bit bigger than the second aperture and had coloured fringes. That meant light could be bent.
- Newton claimed that the edges of an aperture interfered with the paths of the corpuscles.
- Huygens undulatory theory explained diffraction better, but Newton's prestige allowed his theory of light to dominate the Age of Enlightenment.
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