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Spectroscopy

Spectroscopy, once confined to the study of stellar matter, has become the foundation of modern understanding of the electromagnetic force as well as the strong and weak nuclear forces. It is the use of devices to enable the study of light and/or radiation absorption and emission by matter. By studying these processes, their patterns, and how wavelength is interdependent on radiation, interactions at the particle level can be examined and understood.

Spectroscopic analysis has enabled modern physicists to develop new fundamental physical theories and test and refine the old ones. Spectroscopy has been crucial in the modern understanding of quantum mechanics, special and general theories of relativity, and quantum electrodynamics as well as the forces within the atom itself.

Spectroscopic techniques are exceedingly sensitive, with the ability to identify a single atomic isotope among 1020 atoms of differing type. These techniques have been applied to almost every technical and scientific field today, including biology. Spectroscopy is used to examine the gigantic – the remnants of the Big Bang – as well as the minute – collision interactions within the atom.

Web Resources On Spectroscopy

Society for Applied Spectroscopy
Spectroscopy Magazine

Book Resources On Spectroscopy

Spectroscopy for the Biological Sciences by Hammes & Spicer
Molecular Spectroscopy by Jeanne L. McHale

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