This short biography of Fresnel traces his early education, his work as an engineer and his theories and discoveries in optics. The importance of Fresnel's ideas on diffraction, interference and double refraction are discussed. Bibliography. (LC)

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)

Discusses the principles behind holograms: the design and procedure to make either a reflection hologram or a transmission hologram, developing the hologram, safety precautions, and classroom applications. (JRH)

Provides a general description of chemiluminescence and distinguishes between the two types of chemistry that contribute to our understanding of chemiluminescence: fluorescence and the excitation process. Presents an activity that explores the phenomenon. (DDR)

Presents an activity that uses holiday lights to help students internalize the concept that white light contains a combination of all the colors of the rainbow. (JRH)

Explains the color change of the sky by using scattering with science history. Provides several diagrams in each case, such as daylight, twilight, just after sunset, setting sun, and earth's shadow. Presents a reference of three further reading materials. (YP)

Discusses an activity in which computers with color monitors can be used to demonstrate light blending with relative ease. (MKR)

Presents a demonstration that uses a laptop computer as a source of polarized light to make clear the principle behind a liquid-crystal display (LCD). (JRH)