Page "John Tyndall" Paragraph 22

In his lectures at the Royal Institution Tyndall put a great value on — and was talented at producing — lively, visible demonstrations of physics concepts.

In one lecture, published later in one of his books, Tyndall demonstrated the propagation of light down through a stream of falling water via total internal reflection of the light.

It was referred to as the " light fountain ".

It is historically significant today because it demonstrates the scientific foundation for modern fiber optic technology.

During second half of the 20th century Tyndall was usually credited with being the first to make this demonstration.

However, Jean-Daniel Colladon published a report of it in Comptes Rendus in 1842, and there's some suggestive evidence that Tyndall's knowledge of it came ultimately from Colladon and no evidence that Tyndall claimed to have originated it himself.