Willebrord Roijen Snell

(He discovered the basic law of refraction) Willebrord Snell was a Dutch scientist, mathematician, and astronomer who discovered the basic law of refraction. He was born in Leiden, Netherlands, in 1580. He attended the University of Leiden where he studied law. However, he wanted to work with mathematics and he even taught math while he studied law. He received his degree from the University of Leiden in 1607. Snells most significant contribution to the science of optics was the discovery in 1621 of the basic law of refraction. Refraction is the bending of waves caused by a change in their speed when they move from one medium to another. Snells law states that the ratio of the sines of the angles of incidence and refraction is equal to the ratio of velocities in the two media, or equivalently to the inverse ratio of the indices of refraction: Snell's law states that the ratio of the sines of the angles of incidence and refraction is equal to the ratio of velocities in the two media, or equivalently to the inverse ratio of the indices of refraction: or sin 1/sin 2 = v1/v2 = n2/n1 n1 sin 1 = n2 sin 2

where 1 and 2 are angles of incidence and refraction; v1 and v2 are velocities in the two media, and n1 and n2 are indices of refraction of the two media. Although Snell discovered the law of refraction, a basis of modern geometric optics, in 1621, he did not publish it. Only in 1703 did it become known when Christiaan Huygens published Snells result in his treatise on light Dioptrica. In 1617 Snell published Eratosthenes Batavus, which described a way of measuring the Earth by triangulations that would eventually become the foundation of modern geodesy. Snell also improved the classical method of calculating approximate values of by polygons. Using his method of 96-sided polygons he could get the value of correct to seven decimal places while the classical method yields only up to two decimal places. Snell died on 30 October 1626 in Leiden, Netherlands.