undulatory theory

American  

noun

Physics.

1. wave theory.

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Etymology

Origin of undulatory theory

First recorded in 1795–1805

Example Sentences

As mathematicians, you are aware that the undulatory theory of light and heat and sound are now accepted by scientific men as the only sure basis of accurate calculation.

From The Romance of Mathematics Being the Original Researches of a Lady Professor of Girtham College in Polemical Science, with some Account of the Social Properties of a Conic; Equations to Brain Waves; Social Forces; and the Laws of Political Motion. by Hampson, P.

This emission theory of light was abandoned in favour of Huygens' undulatory theory.

From The Mechanism of Life by Leduc, Stéphane

This study of sound laid the foundation, according to his own account, of his subsequent researches in the undulatory theory of light.

From Heroes of Science: Physicists by Garnett, William

It was said that the phenomena of interference and diffraction could not be explained by the theory of emission, while the undulatory theory gave a simple explanation.

From The Mechanism of Life by Leduc, Stéphane

As a consequence of this hypothesis, it follows that the velocity of light must be greater the denser the medium, while the undulatory theory leads to precisely the opposite result.

From Heroes of Science: Physicists by Garnett, William