- Author
- Worthey, J. A.
- Title
- Role of Theory in Lighting Research and Design.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standrds and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Journal
- Lighting Design and Applications, 15-17, July 1991
- Keywords
- lighting equipment | light source | vacuum pumps | optics
- Abstract
- It is a truism that theory needs to be tested in the laboratory and many lighting experiments remain to be done. Nonetheles, an important question is, "What is the importance of theory in lighting research?" In recent years, much has been written by historians of science about the role of theory in the development of science and the interplay of theory and experimentation. For instance, in stating that heavy objects fall no faster than light ones, Galileo was not reportint on an experiment in which he dropped a feather and a stone from the Tower of Pisa. He experimented with metal balls rolling down inclined planes. He then made a theoretical statement that extrapolated to the idealized cased of objects falling without air resistance. With today's vacuum pumps, one could do the idealized experiment; Galileo could not. If it seems trival today that gravity and air resistance are separate effects, we can thank Galileo for his theory of falling objects, which lets us move ahead to other problems. This article does not trace the history of science, but lists some specific reasons that theory is important in lighting research and design. In doing this, I am not promoting a particular comprehensive theory of lighting, but the appropriate use of analytical methods from optics, visual science, and elsewhere.