Jeppe Revall Frisvad
ABSTRACT
Developments in the graphics discipline called realistic image synthesis are in many ways related to the historical development of theories of light. And theories of light will probably continue to inspire the ongoing search for realism in graphics. To nurture this inspiration, we present the first in-depth, source-based historical study that pinpoints events with relevance for graphics in the development of theories of light. We also show that ancient mathematical models for light scattering phenomena may still find a use in the branch of realistic image synthesis concerned with real-time rendering. As an example we use Aristotle's theory of rainbow formation to construct a method for real-time rendering of rainbows. This example serves as an invitation to use the overview and references provided in this paper, not only for understanding where many of the physical concepts used in graphics come from, but also for finding more mathematical and physical models that are useful in graphics.
- Al-Kindī, ~870, 1997. De aspectibus. In R. Rashed Œuvres Philosophiques et Scientifiques D'Al-Kindi: L'Optique & la Catoprique, E. J. Brill, 1997. English excerpt by Smith {1999}.Google Scholar
- Amanatides, J. 1984. Ray tracing with cones. Computer Graphics (Proceedings of ACM SIGGRAPH 84) 18, 3 (July), 129--135. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Appel, A. 1968. Some techniques for shading machine renderings of solids. In AFIPS 1968 Spring Joint Computer Conference Proceedings, vol. 32, 37--45.Google ScholarDigital Library
- Aristotle, ~350 B. C., 1941. De Anima (On the Soul). Translated by J. A. Smith in The Basic Works of Aristotle, Richard McKeon ed., Random House, 1941.Google Scholar
- Aristotle, ~350 B. C., 1984. Meteorology. Translated by E. W. Webster in The Complete Works of Aristotle, J. Barnes ed., Princeton University Press, 1984.Google Scholar
- Arvo, J. 1986. Backward ray tracing. In Developments in Ray Tracing, ACM SIGGRAPH 86 Course Notes, ACM Press.Google Scholar
- Bahar, E., and Chakrabarti, S. 1987. Full-wave theory applied to computer-aided graphics for 3D objects. IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications 7, 7 (July), 46--60. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Bartholin, R. 1670. Experimenta crystalli Islandici disdiaclastici: Quibus mira & insolita refractio detegitur. Danielis Paulli.Google Scholar
- Berger, M., and Trout, T. 1990. Ray tracing mirages. IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications 10, 3 (May), 36--41. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Blinn, J. F. 1977. Models of light reflections for computer synthesized pictures. Proceedings of ACM SIGGRAPH 77 (July), 192--198. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Blinn, J. F. 1982. Light reflection functions for simulation of clouds and dusty surfaces. Computer Graphics (Proceedings of ACM SIGGRAPH 82) 16, 3 (July), 21--29. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Boltzmann, L. 1884. Ableitung des stefan'schen gesetzes, betreffend die Abhängigkeit der Wärmestrahlung von der Temperatur aus der elektromagnetischen Lichttheorie. Annalen der Physik und Chemie 258, 6, 291--294.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Born, M., and Wolf, E. 1999. Principles of Optics: Electromagnetic Theory of Propagation, Interference and Diffraction of Light, seventh (expanded) ed. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
- Bouguer, P., 1729. Essai d'optique sur la gradation de la lumiere. Reprinted in Les maîtres de la pensée scientifique, Gauthier-Villars, 1921. An extended version was published posthumously as Traité d'Optique sur la gradation de la lumiere: Ouvrage posthume de M. Bouguer, de l'Académie Royale des Sciences, &c., H. L. Guerin & L. F. Delatour, 1760.Google Scholar
- Bresenham, J. E. 1965. Algorithm for computer control of a digital plotter. IBM Systems Journal 4, 1, 25--30.Google ScholarDigital Library
- Callet, P. 1996. Pertinent data for modelling pigmented materials in realistic rendering. Computer Graphics Forum 15, 2, 119--127.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Chandrasekhar, S. 1950. Radiative Transfer. Oxford, Clarendon Press. Unabridged and slightly revised version published by Dover Publications, Inc., in 1960.Google Scholar
- Cook, R. L., Porter, T., and Carpenter, L. 1984. Distributed ray tracing. Computer Graphics (Proceedings of ACM SIGGRAPH 84) 18, 3 (July), 137--145. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Descartes, R. 1637, 2001. Discourse on Method, Optics, Geometry, and Meteorology, revised ed. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Translated by P. J. Olscamp from Descartes' Discours de la méthode pour bien conduire sa raison et chercher la vérité dans les sciences, 1637.Google Scholar
- Dias, M. L. 1991. Ray tracing interference color. IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications 11, 2 (March), 54--60. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Diocles, ~190 B. C., 1975. On burning mirrors. Translated by G. J. Toomer in On Burning Mirrors: The Arabic Translation of the Lost Greek Original, Springer-Verlag, 1975.Google Scholar
- Euclid, ~300 B. C., 1895. Catoptrics. In J. L. Heiberg, ed., Euclidis opera omnia, vol. 7, pp. 285--343, Teubner, 1895. English excerps by Smith {1999}.Google Scholar
- Euclid, ~300 B. C., 1945. Optics. Translated by H. E. Burton in Journal of the Optical Society of America, 35:5, pp. 357--372, 1945.Google Scholar
- Euler, L., 1746. Nova theoria lucis & colorum. In Oposcula varii argumenti, vol. 1, pp. 169--244, A. Haude & J. C. Spener, 1746.Google Scholar
- Fermat, P. D. 1891--1912. Œuvres de Fermat: Publiées par les soins de MM. Paul Tannery et Charles Henry sous les auspices du Ministère de l'instruction publique, vol. 2. Gauthier-Villars et fils. Correspondance.Google Scholar
- Fresnel, A. 1816. Sur la diffraction de la lumière, ou l'on examine particulièrement le phénomène des franges colorées que présentent les ombres des corps éclairés pur un point lumineux. Annales de Chimie et de Physique 1, 2, 239--281.Google Scholar
- Fresnel, A. 1827. Mémoire sur la double réfraction. Mémoires de l'Académie des sciences de l'Institut de France 7, 45--176. Collection of three memoirs presented at 26 November 1821, 22 January 1822, and 26 April 1822.Google Scholar
- Fresnel, A. 1832. Mémoire sur la loi des modifications que la réflexion imprime a la lumière polarisée. Mémoires de l'Académie des sciences de l'Institut de France 11, 393--434. Presented 7 January 1823.Google Scholar
- Galen, ~180 A. D., 1984. On the doctrines of Hippocrates and Plato. In P. H. De Lacy, ed. and trans., Galeni De placitis Hippocratis et Platonis, Corpus Medicorum Graecorum, V, 4, 1, three volumes, 1978--1984.Google Scholar
- Glassner, A. S. 1995. Principles of Digital Image Synthesis. Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco, California. Two-volume set. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Goral, C. M., Torrance, K. E., Greenberg, D. P., and Battaile, B. 1984. Modeling the interaction of light between diffuse surfaces. Computer Graphics (Proceedings of ACM SIGGRAPH 84) 18, 3 (July), 213--222. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Gouraud, H. 1971. Continuous shading of curved surfaces. IEEE Transactions on Computers C-20, 6 (June). Google ScholarDigital Library
- Grimaldi, F. M. 1665. Physico-mathesis de lumine, coloribus, et iride. Bononiæ. Reviewed in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, vol. 6, no. 79, pp. 3068--3070, 1671.Google Scholar
- Helmholtz, H. V. 1867. Handbuch der Physiologischen Optik. Leopold Voss. Three volumes published 1856--1866 and published together in Algemeine Encyklopädie der Physik, vol. 9, 1867.Google Scholar
- Hero of Alexandria, ~50 A. D., 1900. Catoptrics. In W. Schmidt, ed. and trans., Heronis Alexandrini opera quae supersunt omnia, vol. 2:1, pp. 301--373, Teubner, 1900. English excerpts by Smith {1999}.Google Scholar
- Hertz, H. 1888. Ueber Strahlen elektrischer Kraft. Sitzungsbericht der Berliner Akademie der Wissenschaften (December). Reprinted in Untersuchungen ueber die Ausbreitung der elektrischen Kraft, pp. 184--198, Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1892.Google Scholar
- Hobbes, T., 1644. Tractatus opticus. Book VII of the Opticorum in Universæ geometriæ mixtæque mathematicæ synopsis, et bini refractionum demonstratarum tractatus, Studio & Operââ F. M. Mersenni, pp. 567--589, 1644. English excerpts by Shapiro {1973}.Google Scholar
- Hooke, R. 1665. Micrographia: or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses with Observations and Inquiries thereupon. Royal Society of London.Google Scholar
- Huygens, C. 1690. Traité de la lumière: où sont expliquées les causes de ce qui luy arrive dans la réflexion, & dans la rééfraction, et particuliérement dans l'étrange réfraction du cristal d'Islande. Pierre vander Aa. Completed in 1678. Translated by S. P. Thompson, Dover Publications, Inc., 1962.Google Scholar
- Ibn Al-Haytham, ~1016, 2001. Kitāb al-manāżir. In A. M. Smith, Alhacen's Theory of Visual Perception: A Critical Edition, with English Translation and Commentary, of the First Three Books of Alhacen's De Aspectibus, the Medieval Latin Version of Ibn al-Haytham's Kitāb al-Manāżir, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 91, parts 4--5, 2001.Google Scholar
- Ibn Sahl, ~984, 1993. On the burning instruments. In R. Rashed Géométrie et dioptrique au Xe siècle: Ibn Sahl, al-Qūhī et Ibn al-Haytham, Les Belles Lettres, 1993. English excerpts by Rashed {1990}.Google Scholar
- Jackèl, D., and Walter, B. 1997. Modeling and rendering of the atmosphere using Mie-scattering. Computer Graphics Forum 16, 4, 201--210.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Johnson, T. E. 1963. Sketchpad III, 3--D, Graphical Communication with a Digital Computer. Master's thesis, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
- Joule, J. P. 1843. On the clorific effect of magneto-electricity, and on the mechanical value of heat. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 12.Google Scholar
- Kajiya, J. T. 1984. Ray tracing volume densities. Computer Graphics (Proceedings of ACM SIGGRAPH 84) 18, 3 (July), 165--174. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Kajiya, J. T. 1985. Anisotropic reflection models. Computer Graphics (Proceedings of ACM SIGGRAPH 85) 19, 3 (July), 15--21. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Kepler, J. 1604, 2000. Optics: Paralipomena to Witelo and the Optical Part of Astronomy. Green Lion Press. Translated by W. H. Donnahue from Kepler's Ad Vitellionem paralipomena, quibus Astronomiæ pars optica traditur, 1604.Google Scholar
- Kepler, J. 1611. Dioptrice seu Demonstratio eorum quæ visui & visibilibus propter conspicilla non ita pridem inventa accidunt. Davidis Franci.Google Scholar
- Kirchhoff, G. 1860. Ueber das Verhältniß zwischen dem Emissionsvermögen und dem Absorptionsvermögen der Körper für Wärme und Licht. Annalen der Physik und Chemie 185, 2, 275--301.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Klassen, R. V. 1987. Modeling the effect of the atmosphere on light. ACM Transactions on Graphics 6, 3 (July), 215--237. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Krull, F. N. 1994. The origin of computer graphics within General Motors. IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 16, 3, 40--56. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Kwan, A., Dudley, J., and Lantz, E. 2002. Who really discovered Snell's law? Physics World 15, 4 (April), 64.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Laërtius, D. ~200 A. D., 1901. The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers. George Bell and Sons. Translated by C. D. Yonge.Google Scholar
- Lambert, J. H. 1760. Photometria sive de mensura et gradibus luminis, colorum et umbrae. Viduae Eberhardi Klett.Google Scholar
- Laposky, B. F. 1953. Oscillons: Electronic Abstractions. Ben F. Laposky, Cherokee, Iowa.Google Scholar
- Leslie, J. 1804. An Experimental Inquiry Into the Nature and Propagation of Heat. printed for J. Mawman.Google Scholar
- Levitt, T. 2000. Editing out caloric: Fresnel, Arago and the meaning of light. The British Journal for the History of Science 33, 1 (March), 49--65.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Lorenz, L. 1890. Lysbevægelser i og uden for en af plane Lysbølger belyst Kugle. Det kongelig danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter, 2--62. 6. Række, Naturvidenskabelig og Mathematisk Afdeling VI, 1.Google Scholar
- Malus, É. L. 1810. Théorie de la double réfraction de la lumière dans les substances cristallines. Gavnery.Google Scholar
- Maxwell, J. C. 1873. A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism. Clarendon Press. Two volumes.Google Scholar
- Mayer, J. R. 1842. Bemerkungen über die Kräfte der unbelebten Natur. Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie 42, 233--240.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Meyer, G. W., and Greenberg, D. P. 1980. Perceptual color spaces for computer graphics. Computer Graphics (Proceedings of ACM SIGGRAPH 80) 14, 3 (July), 254--261. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Middleton, W. E. K. 1964. The early history of the visibility problem. Applied Optics 3, 5, 599--602.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Mie, G. 1908. Beiträge zur Optik trüber Medien, speziell kolloidaler Metallösungen. Annalen der Physik 25, 3, 377--445. IV. Folge.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Moravec, H. P. 1981. 3D graphics and the wave theory. Computer Graphics (Proceedings of ACM SIGGRAPH 81) 15, 3 (July), 254--261. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Newton, I. 1671. A letter of Mr. Isaac Newton, Professor of the Mathematicks in the University of Cambridge; containing his new theory about light and colors. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 6, 80, 3075--3087.Google Scholar
- Newton, I. 1704. Opticks: or, a treatise of the reflexions, refractions, inflexions and colours of light. Royal Society of London.Google Scholar
- Phong, B. T. 1975. Illumination for computer-generated pictures. Communications of the ACM 18, 6 (June), 311--317. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Plato, ~360 B. C., 1989. Timaeus. Translated by B. Jowett in The Collected Dialogues of Plato, E. Hamilton and H. Cairns ed., Bollinger Series 71, Princeton University Press, 1989.Google Scholar
- Ptolemaeus, C., ~160 A. D., 1996. Optics. Translated by A. M. Smith in Ptolemy's Theory of Visual Perception: An English Translation of the Optics with Introduction and Commentary, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 86.2, 1996.Google Scholar
- Rashed, R. 1990. A pioneer in anaclastics: Ibn Sahl on burning mirrors and lenses. Isis 81, 464--491.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Roberts, L. G. 1963. Machine Perception of Three-Dimensional Solids. PhD thesis, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
- Rømer, O. 1676. Démonstration touchant le mouvement de la lumière trouvé. Journal des Sçavans (December), 276--279. Translated in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, vol. 12, no. 136, pp. 893--894, 1677--1678.Google Scholar
- Rushmeier, H. 1995. Input for participating media. In Realistic Input for Realistic Images, ACM SIGGRAPH 95 Course Notes, ACM Press. Also appeared in the ACM SIGGRAPH 98 Course Notes -- A Basic Guide to Global Illumination.Google Scholar
- Schuster, A. 1905. Radiation through a foggy atmosphere. The Astrophysical Journal 21, 1 (January), 1--22.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Schwarzschild, K. 1906. Ueber das Gleichgewicht der Sonnenatmosphäre. Nachrichten von der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Mathematisch-Physikalische Klasse 1906, 1, 41--53.Google Scholar
- Shapiro, A. E. 1973. Kinematic optics: A study of the wave theory of light in the seventeenth century. Archive for History of Exact Sciences 11, 2--3 (June), 134--266.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Smith, A. M. 1999. Ptolemy and the Foundations of Ancient Mathematical Optics: A Source Based Guided Study, vol. 89.3 of Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
- Smits, B. E., and Meyer, G. W. 1990. Newton's colors: Simulating interference phenomena in realistic image synthesis. In Proceedings of Eurographics Workshop on Photosimulation, Realism, and Physics in Computer Graphics, 185--194.Google Scholar
- Stam, J., and Fiume, E. 1995. Depicting fire and other gaseous phenomena using diffusion processes. In Proceedings of ACM SIGGRAPH 1995, ACM Press, 129--136. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Stam, J., and Languénou, E. 1996. Ray tracing in nonconstant media. In Rendering Techniques '96, Proceedings of the 7th Eurographics Workshop on Rendering, 225--234. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Stam, J. 1999. Diffraction shaders. In Proceedings of ACM SIGGRAPH 1999, ACM Press, 101--110. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Stefan, J. 1879. über die Beziehung zwischen der Wärmestrahlung und der Temperatur. Sitzungsberichte der Matematischen-Naturwissenschaftlichen Classe der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften 79, 2, 391--428.Google Scholar
- Stiles, W. S., and Burche, J. M. 1959. N. P. L. colour-matching investigation: Final report (1958). Optica Acta 6, 1--26.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Stockman, A., and Sharpe, L. T. 2000. The spectral sensitivities of the middle- and long-wavelength-sensitive cones derived from measurements in observers of known genotype. Vision Research 40, 13, 1711--1737.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Strutt, J. W. 1871. On the light from the sky, its polarization and colour. Philosophical Magazine 41, 107--120, 274--279. Reprinted in Scientific Papers by John William Strutt, Baron Rayleigh, vol. 1, no. 8, pp. 87--103, Cambridge University Press, 1899.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Sutherland, I. E. 1963. Sketchpad. A Man-Machine Graphical Communication System. PhD thesis, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
- Tannenbaum, D. C., Tannenbaum, P., and Wozny, M. J. 1994. Polarization and birefringency considerations in rendering. In Proceedings of ACM SIGGRAPH 1994, ACM Press, 221--222. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Theophrastus, ~300 B. C., 1917. On the Senses. Translated by G. M. Stratton in Theophrastus and the Greek Physiological Psychology before Aristotle, Allen and Unwin, 1917.Google Scholar
- Thomas, S. W. 1986. Dispersive refraction in ray tracing. The Visual Computer 2, 1 (January), 3--8.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Warnock, J. E. 1969. A hidden surface algorithm for computer generated halftone pictures. Tech. Rep. 4--15, University of Utah, June.Google Scholar
- Whitted, T. 1980. An improved illumination model for shaded display. Communications of the ACM 23, 6 (June), 343--349. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Wien, W. 1896. Ueber die Energievertheilung im Emissionsspectrum eines schwarzen Körpers. Annalen der Physik und Chemie 294, 662--669.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Wollaston, W. H. 1802. On the double refraction of Iceland crystal. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 92, 381--386.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Young, T. 1802. An account of some cases of the production of colours, not hitherto described. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 92, 387--397.Google ScholarCross Ref
Index Terms
- The Aristotelian rainbow: from philosophy to computer graphics
Recommendations
A rapid hierarchical rendering technique for translucent materials
This paper introduces an efficient two-pass rendering technique for translucent materials. We decouple the computation of irradianceat the surface from the evaluation of scattering inside the material.This is done by splitting the evaluation into two ...
A rapid hierarchical rendering technique for translucent materials
SIGGRAPH '02: Proceedings of the 29th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniquesThis paper introduces an efficient two-pass rendering technique for translucent materials. We decouple the computation of irradianceat the surface from the evaluation of scattering inside the material.This is done by splitting the evaluation into two ...
A rapid hierarchical rendering technique for translucent materials
SIGGRAPH '05: ACM SIGGRAPH 2005 CoursesThis paper introduces an efficient two-pass rendering technique for translucent materials. We decouple the computation of irradiance at the surface from the evaluation of scattering inside the material. This is done by splitting the evaluation into two ...
Comments