THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN PHYSICS 



means sufficed to bring about its general acceptance. On 

 the contrary, a bitter feud ensued, in which Arago was 

 opposed by the "Jupiter Olyrapius of the Academy," 

 Laplace, by the only less famous Poisson, and by the 

 younger but hardly less able Biot. So bitterly raged the 

 feud that a life-long friendship between Arago and Biot 

 was ruptured forever. The opposition managed to delay 

 the publication of Fresnel's papers, but Arago continued 

 to fight with his customary enthusiasm and pertinacity, 

 and at last, in 1823, the Academy yielded, and voted 

 Fresnel into its ranks, thus implicitly admitting the 

 value of his work. 



It is a humiliating thought that such controversies as 

 this must mar the progress of scientific truth ; but fort- 

 unately the story of the introduction of the undulatory 

 theory has a more pleasant side. Three men, great both 

 in character and in intellect, were concerned in pressing 

 its claims Young, Fresnel and Arago and the rela- 

 tions of these men form a picture unmarred by any 

 of those petty jealousies that so often dim the lustre 

 of great names. Fresnel freely acknowledged Young's 

 prioritjr so soon as his attention was called to it ; and 

 Young applauded the work of the Frenchman, and 

 aided with his counsel in the application of the undula- 

 tory theory to the problems of polarization of light, 

 which still demanded explanation, and which Fresnel's 

 fertility of experimental resource and profundity of 

 mathematical insight sufficed in the end to conquer. 



After Fresnel's admission to the Institute in 1823 the 

 opposition weakened, and gradually the philosophers 

 came to realize the merits of a theory which Young 

 had vainly called to their attention a full quarter- 

 century before. Now, thanks largely to Arago, both 



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