This paper presents a general historical overview of Isaac Newton's contributions to optics, from his first investigations in 1664 to the end of his life, when he published the several editions of his book Opticks. To allow an adequate understanding of Newton's work, the article also presents the contributions of other important 17th Century authors, especially René Descartes, Walter Charleton, Robert Boyle, Robert Hooke and Christiaan Huygens. The analysis of Newton's unpublished and published works shows that he never reached a definitive theory of light and colors, adopting several different and mutually inconsistent hypotheses. This work may contribute to supplement the simplified accounts of the history of optics and of Newton's contributions, as well as amending several mistakes that can be found in didactic works and popular versions of this subject.
Keywords:
Isaac Newton; optics; history of physics
