Abstract

This survey reviews the rise of ir spectroscopy in the United States from about 1845 to about 1941 in terms of the discoveries and activities of the individuals who contributed importantly to this field. Generally speaking, the emphasis is on molecular, rather than atomic, spectra and on experimentation, rather than theory. The presentation is chronological with respect to the birth dates of the contributors, and a limited amount of biographical material is included for some of them. Some quantitative information about the institutions where ir spectroscopy was carried on, and for the journals in which the results appeared, is appended.

© 1976 Optical Society of America

Men and Milestones in Optics II. Thomas Young

E. Scott Barr
Appl. Opt. 2(6) 639-647 (1963)

Men and Milestones in Optics–IV. The First Fifty Years of the Optical Society of America

E. Scott Barr
Appl. Opt. 5(3) 357-368 (1966)

Lewis Morris Rutherfurd 1816–1892

Samuel Devons
Appl. Opt. 15(7) 1731-1740 (1976)

Bicentennial

Patricia Wakeling
Appl. Opt. 15(7) 1695-1706 (1976)

David Alter and other spectroscopists in Western Pennsylvania

Edwin S. Hodge
Appl. Opt. 15(7) 1722-1725 (1976)