100 lat optyki na Uniwersytecie Warszawskim (1921–2021)

This publication is related to the centenary of physics at the University of Warsaw. It describes the history of optics at the university since 1921, when Stefan Pieńkowski founded the Division of Physics at 69 Hoża Street in Warsaw. The author reports on the rapid development of research and significant discoveries in this field in the interwar period, when the Division of Physics earned a reputation as a world centre for molecular luminescence and atomic spectroscopy, attracting scientists from all over the world to Warsaw. Rebuilt after World War II, it got a new image when lasers were used for studies on the structure of atoms and molecules as well as atomic collisions. Today, it has become an internationally recognised modern centre for optical physics, including nonlinear optics, Fourier optics, plasmonics and quantum technologies.

Classical and Quantum Optics and Their Influences on Science and Society

In this work we present a brief history of Optics, begun several centuries BC in its evolution characterized as Classical Optics; later on, this theory became also characterized as Quantum Optics. The first of these two theories was completed in the great work of J. C. Maxwell while the second actually started in 1977 with the discovery of the first quantum effect in Optics, having in Roy Glauber one of its greatest representatives. Here, a quick walk along these two theories was made, including the various technological applications of both in science and society

Newtonian Optics and the Historiography of Light in the 18th Century: A critical Analysis of Joseph Priestley’s The History of Optics

In 1772, Joseph Priestley published The History and Present State of Discoveries Relating to Vision, Light and Colours, also known as The History of Optics. The book intended to present all the achievements in the matter of light and colors, from the Ancient times to the 18th century. This paper presents a study of the content of The History of Optics, in order to analyze how it sold Newtonian optics in the historiography of light. It will comprise discussions on Priestley’s views on History, his involvement with optical studies, his perceptions on Newtonian optics and the Biographical Chart included in the book. This analysis can add new elements for the current Historiography on Priestley, clarifying other aspects that demonstrate his commitment to a Newtonian view of the History of Optics, as well as an example of the prestige that Newton’s Natural Philosophy had throughout the 18th century.

Newtonian Optics and the Historiography of Light in the 18th Century

In 1772, Joseph Priestley published The History and Present State of Discoveries Relating to Vision, Light and Colours, also known as The History of Optics. The book intended to present all the achievements in the matter of light and colors, from the Ancient times to the 18th century. This paper presents a study of the content of The History of Optics, in order to analyze how it sold Newtonian optics in the historiography of light. It will comprise discussions on Priestley’s views on History, his involvement with optical studies, his perceptions on Newtonian optics and the Biographical Chart included in the book. This analysis can add new elements for the current Historiography on Priestley, clarifying other aspects that demonstrate his commitment to a Newtonian view of the History of Optics, as well as an example of the prestige that Newton’s Natural Philosophy had throughout the 18th century.

Shakespeare’s Alhazen: Love’s Labour’s Lost and the History of Optics

Also exploring Shakespeare’s borrowings, Anne-Valérie Dulac turns to optics and takes Love’s Labour’s Lost as her departure point. She first reminds us that in her Study of Love’s Labour’s Lost, published in 1936, Frances Yates repeatedly mentions the importance of Ahazen’s optical theory in grasping the play’s many references to light, eyes, and vision. Dulac first deals with two mistakes made by Yates in her rather short description of the 1572 edition of the Opticae Thesaurus, a compendium including a truncated Latin version of Alhazen’s treatise along with Witelo’s Perspectiva. She then demonstrates that this was due to the fact that, at the time when Yates was writing, historians of science had not yet shown as forcefully how different the translations of the Kitab al-Manazir (The Books of Optics) are, or, in other words, how different Alhazen is from Alhacen and Ibn al-Haytham. Dulac eventually looks into the Latinised version of Alhazen’s optical theory to enquire into whether it could shed light on some of the most intricate metaphorical networks of the play.

I Problems; Blindness and Autobiography

The literary genre of autobiography dates back to the 18th century, when philosophy became a type of anthropology, archives and case histories strengthened the grasp of discourse over life, and modern authorship and hermeneutics led to new modes of reading and writing. Nietzsche and so-called French theory have put significant strain on this constellation in their shared critique of language, subjectivity and authorship – a critique that makes traditional autobiography all but impossible. Needless to say, this has stopped neither Nietzsche nor a number of postmodern theorists from writing their own autobiographical texts. Interestingly, blindness is a recurring figure in many of these texts; and in this article, I argue that this figure allows us to trace the generic upheaval generated by the problematization of the discursive constellation that fostered modern autobiographical writing. By means of a brief introduction into the history of optics and a close reading of Nietzsche's Ecce Homo and Cixous' 'Savoir,' I show that the malfunctioning eye is one of the figures employed to deinstitutionalize both the philosophical and the autobiographical tradition, allowing us to grasp what became of autobiography after philosophy pronounced the death of man, the subject, and the author.This article was submitted to the European Journal of Life Writing in May 2014 and published on 16 March 2015.