An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

Newton’s theory according to which light is made up of
point-like particles without any mass. It failed to explains several phenomena: simultaneous reflection and refraction at a semi-transparent boundary, interference, diffraction and polarization. Moreover, it requested that the speed of light be greater in a denser medium than in a rarer medium; this prediction is contrary to experimental results. In 1924 Louis de Broglie postulated that
matter has not only a corpuscular nature but also a wave nature, and subsequent experiments confirmed de Broglie’s model.

See also: Corpuscular, adj. from → corpuscle;
→ theory, → light.