X-Nico

3 unusual facts about Thomas Young


Melde's experiment

The English physicist Thomas Young later contrasted Newton's theories in the 18th century and established the scientific basis upon which rest the wave theories.

Philip Kelland

He wrote mathematics books and edited works of mathematician John Playfair and polymath Thomas Young.

Seal of City of Syracuse

His successor, Thomas Young, completely dropped the historic seal in 1986 for a new design depicting the Syracuse skyline and the crossing of two interstate highways.


Milverton, Somerset

It was the birthplace, in 1773, of Thomas Young, an English polymath who contributed to the scientific understanding of vision, light, solid mechanics, energy, physiology, and Egyptology.

Visible spectrum

In the early 19th century, the concept of the visible spectrum became more definite, as light outside the visible range was discovered and characterized by William Herschel (infrared) and Johann Wilhelm Ritter (ultraviolet), Thomas Young, Thomas Johann Seebeck, and others.


see also

Alfred Potier

Following Thomas Young’s ideas, light was regarded in the 19th century to move as vibrations (undulations) in a substance called the Luminiferous aether, contrary to Newton’s ideas that light itself was made of substantive corpuscles.

Huron Historic Gaol

The octagonal jail was designed by Thomas Young, modelled after Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon design for prison construction, common in mid-19th century Britain and North America.