Thomas Young

Thomas Young

Portrait of Thomas Young

Born	13 June 1773
Birth place	Milverton, Somerset, England
Died	10 May 1829
Place of death	London, England
Nationality	British
Known for	Young's modulus, Wave theory of light, Decipherment of the Rosetta Stone

Thomas Young (13 June 1773 – 10 May 1829) was a British polymath who made significant contributions to a wide range of scientific fields, including physics, medicine, and Egyptology. He is best known for his work on the wave theory of light, the concept of Young's modulus in elasticity, and his role in the decipherment of the Rosetta Stone.

Early Life and Education

Thomas Young was born in Milverton, Somerset, England, into a Quaker family. He was a prodigious child, reportedly able to read at the age of two. Young's early education was conducted at home, where he demonstrated an aptitude for languages and science. He later attended the University of Edinburgh, the University of Göttingen, and Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he studied medicine and natural philosophy.

Contributions to Physics

Young is perhaps most famous for his work in optics. In 1801, he presented his famous double-slit experiment, which provided strong evidence for the wave theory of light. This experiment demonstrated that light could produce interference patterns, a phenomenon that could only be explained if light behaved as a wave. Young's work laid the foundation for the later development of the field of wave optics.

In addition to his work on light, Young introduced the concept of Young's modulus, a measure of the stiffness of a material. This concept is fundamental in the field of materials science and engineering, as it describes how materials deform under stress.

Medical Career

Young was also a practicing physician and made several contributions to the field of medicine. He worked on the theory of vision and proposed the three-color theory of color vision, which suggested that the human eye perceives color through the combination of three primary colors. This theory was a precursor to the modern understanding of color vision.

Egyptology and the Rosetta Stone

Young's interest in languages led him to study the Rosetta Stone, an ancient Egyptian artifact that contained inscriptions in three scripts: Greek, Demotic, and hieroglyphic. Young made significant progress in deciphering the hieroglyphs by identifying the phonetic characters used to spell foreign names. His work was crucial in the eventual full decipherment of the Rosetta Stone by Jean-François Champollion.

Legacy

Thomas Young's interdisciplinary approach and his contributions to various fields have left a lasting impact on science and humanities. His work in optics, elasticity, and linguistics continues to influence modern research and education.

Also see

• Wave theory of light
• Young's modulus
• Rosetta Stone
• Color vision
• Interference (wave propagation)