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arXiv · 1008.0039

What Brown saw and you can too

Philip Pearle·Kenneth Bart·David Bilderback·Brian Collett·Dara Newman·Scott Samuels
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Abstract

A discussion is given of Robert Brown's original observations of particles ejected by pollen of the plant \textit{Clarkia pulchella} undergoing what is now called Brownian motion. We consider the nature of those particles, and how he misinterpreted the Airy disc of the smallest particles to be universal organic building blocks. Relevant qualitative and quantitative investigations with a modern microscope and with a "homemade" single lens microscope similar to Brown's, are presented.

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Philip Pearle, Kenneth Bart, David Bilderback, Brian Collett, Dara Newman, Scott Samuels. 2010-07-31. What Brown saw and you can too. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.3475685

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