electromagnetic radiation: References & Edit History
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Additional Reading
Accounts of the historical development of electromagnetic theories may be found in Isaac Asimov, The History of Physics (1984); I. Bernard Cohen, Revolution in Science (1985); and Thomas S. Kuhn, Black-Body Theory and the Quantum Discontinuity, 1894–1912 (1978, reprinted 1987). Early works include Edmund Whittaker, A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity, rev. and enlarged ed., 2 vol. (1951–53); and Heinrich Hertz, Electric Waves: Being Researches on the Propagation of Electric Action with Finite Velocity Through Space (1893, reissued 1962; originally published in German, 1892). Ivan Tolstoy, James Clerk Maxwell (1981), recounts the life of this pivotal figure, as well as his theory and its ramifications. James Clerk Maxwell: A Commemoration Volume, 1831–1931 (1931), includes essays by Max Planck and Albert Einstein, among others. Extensive treatments of visible radiation (light) are given by Michael I. Sobel, Light (1987); Max Born and Emil Wolf, Principles of Optics: Electromagnetic Theory of Propagation, Interference, and Diffraction of Light, 6th ed. (1987); and Francis A. Jenkins and Harvey E. White, Fundamentals of Optics, 4th ed. (1976). Classical radiation and electron theory are treated in John David Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics, 2nd ed. (1975); and Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, and Matthew Sands, The Feynman Lectures on Physics, 3 vol. (1963–65; vol. 1 and 2 have been reprinted, 1977). Wave–particle dualism is addressed by Louis De Broglie, Matter and Light (1939, reissued 1955; originally published in French, 1937); S. Diner et al. (eds.), The Wave–Particle Dualism (1984); and A.B. Arons, The Development of Concepts of Physics: From the Rationalization of Mechanics to the First Theory of Atomic Structure (1965). Quantum electrodynamics is discussed in Richard P. Feynman, QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (1985); Rodney Loudon, The Quantum Theory of Light, 2nd ed. (1983); W. Heitler, The Quantum Theory of Radiation, 3rd ed. (1964, reprinted 1984); J.M. Jauch and F. Rohrlich, The Theory of Photons and Electrons: The Relativistic Quantum Field Theory of Charged Particles with Spin One-half, 2nd expanded ed. (1976); and Paul Davies (ed.), The New Physics (1989).
Article Contributors
Primary Contributors
-
Hellmut Fritzsche
Louis Block Professor of Physics, University of Chicago.
- Melba Phillips
Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors
Article History
| Type | Description | Contributor | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add new Web site: Atlantic Canada Pressbooks Network - Fundamentals of Heat, Light and Sound - Production of Electromagnetic Waves. | Nov 01, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: Chemistry LibreTexts - Electromagnetic Radiation. | Sep 18, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: Open Library Publishing Platform - Enhanced Introductory College Chemistry - Electromagnetic Radiation. | Apr 13, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: Cell Press - iScience - Interactions between electromagnetic radiation and biological systems. | Jan 23, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: IOPscience - What are electromagnetic waves? (PDF). | Oct 27, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - The Influence of Electromagnetic Pollution on Living Organisms: Historical Trends and Forecasting Changes. | Aug 08, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: OpenStax - University Physics Volume 2 - The Behavior of Electromagnetic Radiation. | Jun 28, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: University of Cincinnati - Department of Engineering - Electromagnetic Radiation in Analysis (PDF). | May 23, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: UEA Digital Repository - Electromagnetic Radiation (PDF). | Mar 28, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: DigitalCommons at URI - Electromagnetic waves. Poynting vector. Another glimpse of relativityrelativity (PDF). | Dec 24, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: Scholars at HARVARD - Electromagnetic waves. | Dec 07, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: Mustansiriyah University - The nature of electromagnetic radiation. | Oct 24, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - Environment, Health and Safety - Electromagnetic Radiation and Fields. | Jun 06, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: Khan Academy - Electromagnetic waves. | Apr 15, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: Academia - Basics of electromagnetic radiation. | Mar 28, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: Molecular Expressions - Electromagnetic Radiation. | Jan 05, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: Frontiers - Frontiers in Public Health - Effects of Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Radiation on Neurotransmitters in the Brain. | Nov 08, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: OpenStax - University Physics Volume 2 - Maxwells Equations and Electromagnetic Waves. | Aug 11, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: Pennsylvania State University - Mapping our Changing World - Electromagnetic Radiation. | Apr 28, 2023 | ||
| Added cross-reference. | Mar 03, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: Chemistry LibreTexts - Electromagnetic Radiation. | Sep 07, 2022 | ||
| Add new Web site: Chemistry LibreTexts - Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation. | Sep 05, 2022 | ||
| Corrected display issue. | Jul 23, 2020 | ||
| Add new Web site: LiveScience - What Is Electromagnetic Radiation? | Oct 18, 2017 | ||
| Added six diagrams, five photographs, and one video. | Jan 24, 2017 | ||
| Article revised. | Jan 24, 2017 | ||
| Add new Web site: Buzzle.com - What is Electromagnetic Radiation? | Jul 17, 2014 | ||
| Add new Web site: Rader's Cosmos4Kids.com - Electromagnetic Radiation. | Jan 22, 2014 | ||
| Added video describing how different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum are used to study different aspects of the Milky Way. | Feb 09, 2011 | ||
| Add new Web site: Hyperphysics - Electromagnetic Waves. | Dec 27, 2010 | ||
| Age of universe updated from between 15 and 20 to 13.8 billion years. Temperature of cosmic microwave background updated from 2.74 to 2.735 K. | Jul 14, 2010 | ||
| Added new Web site: Window To The Universe - Electromagnetic Radiation. | May 11, 2009 | ||
| Added new Web site: Hyperphysics - Electromagnetic Waves. | May 22, 2008 | ||
| Article revised and updated. | Oct 25, 2007 | ||
| Added new Web site: Galileo - Maxwell's Equations and Electromagnetic Waves. | Feb 19, 2007 | ||
| Article revised. | Apr 16, 2002 | ||
| Article revised. | Jun 29, 2000 | ||
| Article added to new online database. | Jul 20, 1998 |