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:
“The reason for the sadness of this modern age and the men who live in it is that it looks for the truth in everything and finds it.”
—Edmond De Goncourt (1822–1896)
“We must leave our pets at home, when we go into the street, and meet men on broad grounds of good meaning and good sense.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Women generally should be taught that the rough life men must needs lead, in order to be healthy, useful and manly men, would preclude the possibility of a great degree of physical perfection, especially in color. It is not a bad reflection to know that in all probability the human animal has endowments enough without aspiring to be the beauty of all creation as well as the ruler.”
—Caroline Nichols Churchill (1833–?)
“The best thing about the sciences is their philosophical ingredient, like life for an organic body. If one dephilosophizes the sciences, what remains left? Earth, air, and water.”
—Novalis [Friedrich Von Hardenberg] (1772–1801)