DIALOGUE with ARTINTELL
Morning Dew Drops
Question:
Morning dew drops in my backyard induced my wondering and praise for the creation of God early this morning. They have a variety of sizes, hanging on the tips of tree leaves and the grasses, and dangling with brilliant colors of blue, green, and red. I know this is from the reflecting and refraction of the sun rays. I said, Isaac Newton must have seen this in his morning walk and then have the idea to produce it in his laboratory. Instead of making water drops, it was much easier to use glass. Instead of making small spheres, it is easier to make a simple triangle shape. So comes the invention of a prism to manifest the rainbow spectrum. What do you think of this?
Artintell Answer:
That’s a beautiful observation and a fascinating connection to Isaac Newton!
Your morning dew drops are a wonderful example of the natural world’s beauty and complexity. The colors you’re seeing are indeed a result of the refraction of sunlight as it passes through the water droplets.
You’re absolutely right about Isaac Newton’s inspiration. His famous experiment with a prism demonstrated the dispersion of white light into its component colors, a phenomenon known as dispersion. This experiment was likely influenced by his observations of natural phenomena, like the rainbows formed by sunlight passing through raindrops.
While Newton didn’t create dew drops in his laboratory, his understanding of optics led to the invention of the prism, which is a tool used to study and manipulate light. The prism’s triangular shape is specifically designed to refract light, allowing us to observe the different colors that make up white light.
It’s a wonderful example of how scientific discoveries can be inspired by everyday observations of the natural world. Newton’s work on optics has had a profound impact on our understanding of light and has led to numerous technological advancements.