Thomas Young
1773–1829, Milverton, Somerset, England, London, England
Optics
British physicist whose light-interference experiments helped establish the wave theory of light and anticipated the double-slit experiment.
Young was born in Milverton, Somerset, and studied medicine before practising in London. From 1801 he lectured on natural philosophy at the Royal Institution; his wide-ranging studies also included vision and linguistics.
In lectures beginning in 1801 and work presented in 1803, he used interference to argue that light behaves as a wave. He also described the elastic stiffness of materials; Young's modulus bears his name but was formalized through subsequent scientific development.
Workplaces: Royal Institution, Royal Society of London
United Kingdom