Modern Meaning in The Physical Sciences
In the 17th century the word spectrum was introduced into optics, referring to the range of colors observed when white light was dispersed through a prism. Soon the term referred to a plot of light intensity or power as a function of frequency or wavelength, also known as a spectral density.
The term spectrum was expanded to apply to other waves, such as sound waves that could also be measured as a function of frequency. The term now applies to any signal that can be measured or decomposed along a continuous variable such as energy in electron spectroscopy or mass to charge ratio in mass spectrometry. Spectrum is also used to refer to a graphical representation of the as a function of the dependent variable.
Read more about this topic: Spectrum
Famous quotes containing the words modern, meaning, physical and/or sciences:
“Men must speak English who can write Sanskrit; they must speak a modern language who write, perchance, an ancient and universal one.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I begin, then, with some remarks about ‘the meaning of a word.’ I think many persons now see all or part of what I shall say: but not all do, and there is a tendency to forget, or to get it slightly wrong. In so far as I am merely flogging the converted, I apologize to them.”
—J.L. (John Langshaw)
“Dying is something we human beings do continuously, not just at the end of our physical lives on this earth.”
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“All the sciences are now under an obligation to prepare for the future task of philosopher, which is to solve the problem of value, to determine the rank order of values.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)