Optics

(Gr. ὄπτομαι, to see). The science of the nature and properties of light; of its changes as it penetrates or is reflected or absorbed by bodies; of the structure of the eye, and the laws of vision; and of instruments in connexion with sight. It is thus closely connected with the science of colour, and the arts in general. The earliest treatise extant on this science is Euclid’s Optica et Catoptric a. (Cf. Dr. Smith’s Optics, .)