One group of scientists, who subscribed to the wave theory, centered their arguments on the discoveries of Dutchman Christiaan Huygens. In the early 18th century, the argument about the nature of light had turned the scientific community into divided camps that fought vigorously over the validity of their favorite theories. Only during the first decades of the 20th century was enough compelling evidence collected to provide a comprehensive answer, and to everyone's surprise, both theories turned out to be correct-at least in part. The opposing view holds that light is composed of a steady stream of particles, much like tiny droplets of water sprayed from a garden hose nozzle.ĭuring the past few centuries, the consensus has wavered with one view prevailing for a period of time, only to be overturned by evidence for the other. One point of view envisions light as wave-like in nature, producing energy that traverses through space in a manner similar to the ripples spreading across the surface of a still pond after being disturbed by a dropped rock. Even though these ideas have undergone many modifications and a significant degree of evolution over time, the essence of the dispute established by the Greek philosophers remains to this day. Greek scientists from the ancient Pythagorean discipline postulated that every visible object emits a steady stream of particles, while Aristotle concluded that light travels in a manner similar to waves in the ocean. The exact nature of visible light is a mystery that has puzzled humans for centuries, with many scientists and philosophers striving to answer the following question: Is light a particle or wave?
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