Rasmus Bartholin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rasmus Bartholin
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Rasmus Bartholin
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| Born | 13 August 1625 |
| Died | 4 November 1698 (aged 73) |
| Nationality | Danish |
| Known for | Double refraction of a light ray |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
Rasmus Bartholin was a Danish scientist, doctor, and language expert. He lived a long time ago, from 1625 to 1698. He is most famous for discovering something amazing about light. He found out how light can split into two parts when it passes through a special crystal.
Contents
About Rasmus Bartholin
Early Life and Education
Rasmus Bartholin was born in Roskilde, Denmark, in 1625. His father, Caspar Bartholin the Elder, was also a well-known doctor. His mother was Anna Fincke. Her father was a famous mathematician.
To further his studies, Rasmus traveled across Europe for ten years. He visited many countries, including the Netherlands, England, France, and Italy. In 1647, he earned his Master's degree at the University of Copenhagen. Later, in 1654, he received his Doctoral degree from the University of Padua in Italy.
A Professor and Scholar
After his studies, Rasmus Bartholin became a professor at the University of Copenhagen. He first taught Geometry, which is the study of shapes and spaces. Later, he taught Medicine, helping to train future doctors.
He also held several important positions at the university. He was the head of the medicine department. He also served as the university's librarian and its rector, which is like being the president. In 1657, he wrote the first grammar book for the Danish language. He wrote it in Latin, and it was called De studio lingvæ danicæ.
His Big Discovery: Double Refraction
Rasmus Bartholin is best remembered for a discovery he made in 1669. He found out about something called double refraction. This happens when a ray of light passes through a special crystal. The crystal he used was Iceland spar, also known as calcite.
What is Double Refraction?
Normally, when light passes through a clear material like glass, it bends once. This bending is called refraction. But Rasmus Bartholin noticed something different with Iceland spar. When a single ray of light went into the crystal, it came out as two separate rays. It was like the light had split in two!
He wrote a very detailed description of this amazing phenomenon. However, in his time, scientists did not fully understand what light was made of. Because of this, Rasmus Bartholin could not explain why the light split. It took many more years for the answer to be found.
Later Explanations
It wasn't until around 1801 that another scientist, Thomas Young, proposed the wave theory of light. This theory suggested that light travels in waves, similar to how sound travels. With this new understanding, scientists were finally able to explain why Iceland spar causes light to split into two rays.
Family Life
Rasmus Bartholin was the younger brother of another famous scientist, Thomas Bartholin. Thomas Bartholin was also a physician and anatomist.
