The crucial evidence for the wave theory of light was the work of an amazingly multital-
ented individual, who, though surely unique in his constellation of abilities, manifests the
fruitful breadth of scope so important in the advances made by other contemporary natural
philosophers. Thomas Young used studies of sound and music to advance the theory of
wave motion, especially the concept of interference, which he learned from sound and
then applied to light. Sir John Herschel singled out Young ’ s insight into sound interference
as “ the key to all the more abstruse and puzzling properties of light, which would alone
have sufficed to place its author in the highest ranks of scientific immortality, even were
his other almost innumerable claims to such a distinction disregarded. ”^1 Young ’ s awareness
of sonic and musical phenomena prepared the ground for his work on light, down to the
precise details of the experiment that would finally satisfy Newton ’ s stipulations.
Though born in modest circumstances to a pious Society of Friends (Quaker) family,
Young ’ s uncle was an eminent physician and member of the Royal Society. Early on,
Young showed prodigious talent for languages, though basically self-taught. By age nine-
teen he was fluent in Latin and Greek, had a good command of the principal European
living languages, could read biblical Hebrew, and had also studied Chaldean, Syriac, and
Arabic.^2 He translated Shakespeare into classical Greek. Young also taught himself math-
ematics and developed an interest in science. He read Newton ’ s Principia by himself; he
ground pigments to make paint, studied drawing, and constructed scientific instruments.
After leaving one of the local schools, he devoted himself “ almost entirely to the study of
Hebrew and to the practice of turning and telescope-making. ”^3 Yet despite his amazing
breadth and depth of learning, Young ’ s Quaker upbringing removed him from the ordinary
activities of his contemporaries.
Whatever may have been his personal preferences, his family ’ s finances dictated that
he take up a career in medicine, following his uncle ’ s lead. This he did without complaint,
seemingly considering it a continuation of his interests in physics and mathematics, now
extended to a physiological sphere. Following the practices of the time, Young first served
an apprenticeship in London as a pupil in St. Bartholomew ’ s Hospital and showed his
extraordinary abilities in anatomy. At age twenty (1793), he made a major discovery about
barré
(Barré)
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