Why Goethe rejected Newton's theory of light.
Observations that he himself had made persuaded Goethe to reject Newton's theory of light and to put forward an alternative theory of the colour phenomena seen with a prism. Duck has argued that Goethe's attack on Newton's theory rested on valid experimental observations that appeared to present a difficulty for Newton's theory but to support his own views on colour. Duck has also proposed that these observations may be accounted for as an instance of the Bezold-Brücke phenomenon. It is argued here that this explanation is invalid and that two other features of colour processing can explain Goethe's observations.
Treisman
M
M
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK.
D003118:Color Perception; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D011601:Psychophysics / Q000266:history*