Toward the end of the nineteenth century, many physicists thought that they had just about everything figured out. With Newtonian mechanics, just about every aspect of the known universe could be understood, and with Mendelev’s periodic table of the elements, the composition of matter seemed to be under control as well.

Who could have guessed that one of the most important revolutions in the history of science would begin with a problem as simple as a red-hot piece of metal?

What is a Black-Body?

Technically speaking, a black-body is: “a hypothetical body that absorbs without reflection all of the electromagnetic radiation incident on its surface.” Or so says the dictionary.