THE HISTORY OF FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF MEDICAL PHYSICS (OPTICS) (PART 4)

Abstract

The article highlights the historical stages of the optics development – the medical physics section, within which the nature of optical radiation (light), the processes of light radiation, its distribution in the medium and interaction with matter, interference, diffraction, and polarimetric phenomena are studied. The article deals with the evolution of human knowledge about the light nature, the physical foundations of diffraction, interference, polarimetric phenomena, holography, optical methods of research, and also considered the worldwide significance discovery, which was called “enlightenment of optics” by the Ukrainian physicist Olexander Smakula (1900-1983), whо was born in village Dobryvody of Zbarazh district in Ternopil region. He invented the method of covering the surface of the lenses of optical devices with a special thin layer of a certain material, which greatly reduced the coefficient of reflected light from the surface of the lens and greatly increased the contrast of the image.

Medieval philosopher Roger Bacon argued: “Optics is the flower of the whole philosophy and through it, and not without it, can the other sciences be known”

A special place in the history of optics is the doctrine of vision. Ancient Roman philosopher Seneca wrote: “Not all, however, reach our eyes, we do not see everything so magnificent as it is, but our vision sets a path for research, forms the foundation for us to know the truth so that from the apparent we could move in our quest to the hidden; to find out also what is older than the entire visible world “.

In this paper we consider the historical ways of the vision doctrine, the stages of the development of geometric and wave optics, the physical nature of optical phenomena, optical methods of research of medical-biological systems. Note that radiation and absorption of light were regarded as continuous processes, but in the field of short wavelengths there was a discrepancy between existing theories and physics talked about the so-called “ultraviolet catastrophe.” Therefore, a theory was needed that would eliminate the corresponding contradictions. But this will already be stated in the next article.