Science

Newton's two-prism trick proved sunlight hides every color

In 1666 Newton let a sunbeam through a hole in his shutter and a prism, spreading it into a rainbow. Passing a single colored ray through a second prism left it unchanged, while recombining the full spectrum restored plain white light. This 'experimentum crucis' proved color is a built-in property of light itself, not something added by glass.

Isaac Newton, New Theory about Light and Colours — Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 1672

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