[alancalverd]

So far, nobody has produced a better geometric construction than Huygens for predicting diffraction.  If it ain't busted, don't fix it.

The problem with epicycles is that they purported to be an explanation, not a predictive construction, and implied a mechanical structure for which there was no evidence. We still use a sort of epicycle mathematics to make remarkably accurate tide tables but they are under continuous revision as everyone realises that there are nth order effects that are easier to measure than to calculate..   

[hamdani yusuf (OP)]

So far, nobody has produced a better geometric construction than Huygens for predicting diffraction.  If it ain't busted, don't fix it.

The problem with epicycles is that they purported to be an explanation, not a predictive construction, and implied a mechanical structure for which there was no evidence. We still use a sort of epicycle mathematics to make remarkably accurate tide tables but they are under continuous revision as everyone realises that there are nth order effects that are easier to measure than to calculate..   

How does it produce reflection?

[alancalverd]

Every point at which the wavefront is reflected is treated as the source of the reflected wavelets.

Remember, as always, that Huygens is a geometric construction that mimics what happens, not an explanation of how it happens.

[hamdani yusuf (OP)]

Every point at which the wavefront is reflected is treated as the source of the reflected wavelets.

Remember, as always, that Huygens is a geometric construction that mimics what happens, not an explanation of how it happens.

Can it explain reflection by a polarizer?
My experiment shows that incoming microwave is almost completely reflected by the polarizer, despite the gap between conductors in the polarizer grid are much larger than the diameter of the conductors themselves.

[alancalverd]

Can it explain reflection by a polarizer?

Once again, it is a geometric construction, not an explanation.

[hamdani yusuf (OP)]

Can it explain reflection by a polarizer?

Once again, it is a geometric construction, not an explanation.

How do you geometrically construct the result of reflection by a polarizer?