The arrangement of colors in Newton's color circle suggests that it was derived from paint mixtures, not light mixtures. If this is true it may be concluded that what Newton called indigo represents violet in modern terminology, and what he called violet represents purple. (Author/TS)

The diffraction bands caused by a thin transparent plate of glass inserted over half the field in a spectrometer are discussed. (TS)

Describes the total internal reflection process that occurs when the internal angle of incidence is equal to or greater than the critical angle. Presents a demonstration of the effect of frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR). (YDS)

Proposes a ray tracing approach to thin lens analysis based on a vector form of Snell's law for paraxial rays as an alternative to the usual approach in introductory physics courses. The ray tracing approach accommodates skew rays and thus provides a complete analysis. (Author/KHR)

Certain terminological inconsistencies in the teaching of optical theory at the elementary level are traced back to Newton who derived them from Euclidean geometrical optics. Discusses this terminological ambiguity which influenced later textbooks. (LS)

Describes a simple inexpensive circuit which can be used to quickly demonstrate the basic function and versatility of the solid state diode. Can be used to demonstrate the light-emitting diode (LED) as a light emitter, temperature sensor, light detector with both a linear and logarithmic response, and charge storage device. (JRH)

Explains the discrepancy between the principle-of-equivalence and the general theory of relativity in calculating the deflection of light by the sun. Shows that the total deflection is the sum of the deflection given by the principle-of-equivalence, and the deflection of infinitely fast particles. ( GA)

A known but often overlooked property of optical monochromators is discussed in view of its current applications. It is shown that grating and prism monochromators hold on to light for time durations proportional to resolving power and that the dispersing ability of monochromators extends to pulses of arbitrarily short duration. (SK)

Points out that neither Minkowski's nor Abraham's proposal gives correctly the momentum density of light in a refracting medium. Derives the correct result as given by Peierls. (MLH)