This Day in Science History - June 13 - Young and Maxwell

June 13^th is the birthday of two important scientists involved in the wave nature of light. Thomas Young was an English polymath who demonstrated light behaves like water waves. He showed light could be reflected and refracted. He also showed light set up interference patterns similar to water waves. James Clerk Maxwell was a Scottish physicist who managed to unite electricity, magnetism and optics all in one field. His famous Maxwell's equations showed how an electromagnetic wave could self-propagate through space at the speed of light. This led to the realization that light has properties of an electromagnetic wave.

Find out what else these men accomplished and what else occurred on this day in science history.

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