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optics
optics scientific study of light . Physical optics is concerned with the genesis, nature, and properties of light; physiological optics with the part light plays in vision ; and geometrical optics with the reflection and refraction of light as encountered in the study of the mirror and the ...
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optic nerve
optic nerve The second cranial nerve: a paired sensory nerve that runs from each eye to the brain. It is responsible for conveying visual stimuli received by the rods and cones in the retina to the brain for interpretation. See also optic chiasma....
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virtual observatory
virtual observatory a collection of integrated astronomical data archives and software tools that utilize computer networks to create an environment in which research can be conducted. Several countries have initiated national virtual observatory programs that will combine existing databases from g...
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optical activity
optical activity the ability of asymmetric compounds to rotate the orientation of planar polarized light. Such compounds and their mirror images are know as enantiomers, or optical isomers. Although differing in geometric arrangement, enantiomers possess identical chemical and physical properties. ...
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Paul Karl Ludwig Drude
Paul Karl Ludwig Drude , 1863-1906, German physicist. Drude first experimented with the physical determinants of optical constants, measuring the optical constants of a variety of substances to an unprecedented degree of accuracy. He worked on the relations among optical constants, electrical consta...
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cable television
cable television the transmission of televised images to viewers by means of coaxial cables. Cable systems receive the television signal, which is sent out over cables to individual subscribers, by a common antenna (CATV) or satellite dish. Early cable systems developed in the late 1940s to improve...
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vision
vision physiological sense of sight by which the form, color, size, movements, and distance of objects are perceived.
Vision in Humans
The human eye functions somewhat like a camera; that is, it receives and focuses light upon a photosensitive receiver, the retina. The light rays are be...
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Siméon Denis Poisson
Siméon Denis Poisson , 1781-1840, French mathematician and physicist. From 1802 he taught at the École polytechnique, Paris, and was also on the faculty of sciences at the Univ. of Paris from 1809. His chief interest lay in the application of mathematics to physics, especially in elect...
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bar code
bar code computer coding system that uses a printed pattern of lines or bars to identify products, mail and packages, customer accounts, and the like. Bar codes are read by optically scanning the printed pattern and using a computer program to decode the pattern. In a linear bar code system, the co...
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fiber optics
fiber optics transmission of digitized messages or information by light pulses along hair-thin glass fibers. Each fiber is surrounded by a cladding having a high index of refractance so that the light is internally reflected and travels the length of the fiber without escaping. Cables of optical fi...
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