Pioneers in Optics: Louis de Broglie and Edwin Herbert Land

Abstract

In the early twentieth century, the long standing argument about whether the character of light was particle-based or wavelike was finally coming to an end as the scientists of the day began to accept that light could assume a dual nature. The possibility that such a duality might apply to matter as well as light was first proposed by physicist Louis de Broglie. Born in Dieppe, France, de Broglie studied in Paris and was descended from members of the French nobility. In his youth, he considered a career as a diplomat but later turned to science and pursued the study of theoretical physics. His brother, Maurice, who had also decided to become a physicist and made many advances in the study of X rays, reportedly had a considerable influence on de Broglie and was the first to introduce him to the work of Albert Einstein and Max Planck.