Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel was born in Hannover (Germany) in 1738 and died in Slough (England) in 1822.
Since 1770 he was engaged in building astronomical instruments and in 1781 he discovered the planet Uranus in our solar system.
In the course of time he created a catalog with more than 2500 entries of nebulous objects and double stars.
In search of materials with better optical properties, he discovered infrared radiation in 1800 by directing sunlight through a prism
and using a thermometer to detect a further rise in temperature behind the red end of the visible spectrum.
He concluded that some invisible form of energy must be operating there.
Today, we use infrared cameras to record the thermal radiation of plastic parts, for example, and use it to evaluate the quality of the manufactured parts.
Bust of Wilhelm Herschel
Related topics:
