A Voyage Through Time: History of Optics and Scientific Method

This lecture delves into the historical development of the theory of vision, from ancient Greek and Arab scholars to the contributions of Ibn-Al-Haytham. It explores the evolution of optics, the concept of perspective, and the initiation of the scientific method, highlighting major paradigm shifts and the dissociation of light from vision. The instructor discusses the cultural differences between religion and science, the freezing of motion in 'real time', and the concept of the arrow of time. The lecture also covers the sources of ultrashort X-ray photons, examples of research results in charge transfer and spin dynamics, and the significance of haem proteins in various biological functions.