Newton's Light Theory, Part 6 to the Life & Works of Isaac Newton
Newton's Light Theory was published in 1704; his Opticks set forth the theory that light is composed of particles. "Light," according to Newton, "is composed of tiny particles, or corpuscles, emitted by luminous bodies." This particle theory dominated optics until the 19th century when it was replaced by the wave theory of light.16 Generally though, Newton's light theory was accepted until the 20th century, when experiments were carried out by Michelson and Einstein which led to the electromagnetic theory of light.