Two more books about Ritter and Goethe were published recently, but they are both in German. 1) Goethe, Ritter und die Polarität : Geschichte und Kontroversen. 2021 (Goethe, Ritter and the Polarity: History and Controversies) 2) Ultraviolett - Johann Wilhelm Ritters Werk und Goethes Beitrag - zur Geschichte einer Kooperation. 2021 (Ultraviolet - Johann Wilhelm Ritter's Work und Goethe's contribution - On the History of a Cooperation) Based on a google translation of a section of book (1) that was free online, it seems Ritter followed up his photochemical discovery of ultraviolet light with a photochemical investigation of infrared light but his latter observations were dismissed at the time as erroneous. Based on the principle of polarity he predicted infrared light would tend to lighten silver oxide paper in contrast with UV light which darkened the silver oxide paper. Since he predicted the paper would become lighter he started with partially exposed gray paper instead of unexposed white paper and he observed that IR light did lighten the gray paper. This experiment was just recently redone after more than 200 hundred years and it appears his observations were correct. Why this happens is not yet known.
Harry On Tue, Oct 11, 2022 at 10:52 AM H LV <[email protected]> wrote: > > I am going to the library today to get this book through an interlibrary > loan. (At over $200 it is too pricey to buy): > > _Key Texts of Johann Wilhelm Ritter (1776-1810) on the Science and Art of > Nature_ > > It is a translation of J. W. Ritter's work. I just learned about Ritter > last month while reading about Goethe. He died poor and young at 33. Ritter > is credited with the discovery of ultraviolet radiation about a year after > Herschel discovered infrared radiation. (Goethe suggested to Ritter that he > look for something beyond the violet.) > > I am looking forward to reading Ritter's essay: Physics as Art. > > Like many scientists (i.e. natural philosophers ) of his time he was > interested in electricity, galvanism and batteries. Apparently he performed > electrical tests on himself to learn about the electrical nature of the > nervous system. Some speculate the self-experimentation may have > contributed to his early death. > > Jocelyn Holland (who translated Ritter's work from german to english) says > of him: > Ritter writes that only through the presence of the observer can painting > become a complete embodiment of the artistic act. The observed act of > artistic creation in the medium of painting “summons” the observer to > “complete [the embodiment]” and “proclaims to him the beginning of a new > individual activity.” > > Wikipedia page on Ritter: > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Wilhelm_Ritter > > Harry >
