Search Result for "corpuscular philosophy":

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Corpuscular \Cor*pus"cu*lar\ (k?r-p?s"k?-l?r), a. [Cf. F. corpusculaire.] Pertaining to, or composed of, corpuscles, or small particles. [1913 Webster] Corpuscular philosophy, that which attempts to account for the phenomena of nature, by the motion, figure, rest, position, etc., of the minute particles of matter. Corpuscular theory (Opt.), the theory enunciated by Sir Isaac Newton, that light consists in the emission and rapid progression of minute particles or corpuscles. The theory is now generally rejected, and supplanted by the undulatory theory. [1913 Webster]