16 - On the Reflection and Refraction of Light by Intensely Opaque Matter

Summary

It is, I believe, the common opinion, that a satisfactory mechanical theory of the reflection of light from metallic surfaces has been given by Cauchy, and that his formulæ agree very well with observation. The result, however, of a recent examination of the subject has been to convince me that, at least in the case of vibrations performed in the plane of incidence, his theory is erroneous, and that the correspondence with fact claimed for it is illusory, and rests on the assumption of inadmissible values for the arbitrary constants. Cauchy, after his manner, never published any investigation of his formulae, but contented himself with a statement of the results and of the principles from which he started. The intermediate steps, however, have been given very concisely and with a command of analysis by Eisenlohr (Pogg. Ann, vol. civ. p. 368), who has also endeavoured to determine the constants by a comparison with measurements made by Jamin. I propose in the present communication to examine the theory of reflection from thick metallic plates, and then to make some remarks on the action on light of a thin metallic layer, a subject which has been treated experimentally by Quincke.

The peculiarity in the behaviour of metals towards light is supposed by Cauchy to lie in their opacity, which has the effect of stopping a train of waves before they can proceed for more than a few wave-lengths within the medium.