Interactive animation of Descartes Refraction

This visualization shows how René Descartes explained the refraction of light in terms of his mechanistic philosophy (cfr. 'Les Météores' in Discours de la Méthode, 1637). Colour corresponds to the rotational velocity of a particle, and can be altered at the interface of two mediums. Though succesful as basis for his treatment of the appearence of the rainbow, Descartes' refraction model soon was famously questioned by Isaac Newton's prism experiment or 'experimentum crucis'.