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Introduction to Radiometry and Photometry

Second Edition
For a complete listing of titles in the
Artech House Applied Photonics Series,
turn to the back of this book.
Introduction to Radiometry and Photometry

Second Edition

William Ross McCluney


Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the U.S. Library of Congress.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data


A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Cover design by John Gomes

ISBN 13: 978-1-60807-833-2

© 2014 ARTECH HOUSE


685 Canton Street
Norwood, MA 02062

All rights reserved. Printed and bound in the United States of America. No part of this book
may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publisher.
All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been
appropriately capitalized. Artech House cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of
a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service
mark.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Introduction xiii
End Notes xviii

Acknowledgments xxi

1 Fundamental Concepts of Radiometry 1

1.1 Electromagnetic Radiation 1

1.2 Terminology Conventions 4

1.3 Wavelength Notations and Solid Angle 4

1.4 Fundamental Definitions 7

1.5 Lambertian Radiators and Lambert’s Cosine Law 13

1.6 Radiance, Irradiance, Intensity, and Flux Relationships 16

1.7 Connection with Electromagnetic Theory 20

1.8 Polarization 22

1.9 Photon Flux 25

1.10 Radiometric Information 28


End Notes 36

v
vi Introduction to Radiometry and Photometry

2 Fundamental Concepts of Photometry 39

2.1 Light 39

2.2 Photometric Definitions 43


2.2.1 Radiation Luminous Efficacy, Kr and the V-lambda
Function 47
2.2.2 Lighting System Luminous Efficacy, Ks 50

2.3 Luminance and Brightness 51

2.4 Luminance and Vision 54

2.5 Disability Glare 57

2.6 Discomfort Glare 59

2.7 Illumination 60
2.7.1 Illuminance Selection 62
End Notes 68

3 Blackbodies and Other Sources 71

3.1 Blackbody Radiation 71

3.2 Planck’s Law 73

3.3 Wien Displacement Law 77

3.4 Luminous Efficacy of Blackbody Radiation 78

3.5 Color and Distribution Temperatures 79

3.6 Emission Into an Imperfect Vacuum 81

3.7 Radiation Exchange 81

3.8 Experimental Approximation of a Blackbody 82

3.9 Other Real Sources 83


End Notes 96

4 Source/Receiver Flux Transfer Calculations 99

4.1 Introduction 99
Contents vii

4.2 Geometry and Definitions 100


4.2.1 Case 1 102
4.2.2 Case 2 104
4.2.3 Case 3 104
4.2.4 Case 4 105
4.2.5 Case 5 108
4.2.6 Case 6 109
4.2.7 Case 7 110

4.3 Configuration Factor 111

4.4 Net Exchange of Radiation 113

4.5 Summary 114


End Notes 125

5 The Invariance of Radiance and the Limits of


Optical Concentration 127

5.1 Introduction 127

5.2 Radiance Is a Field Quantity 128

5.3 Pencils of Rays 128

5.4 Elementary Beam of Radiation 129

5.5 Radiance Invariance 131

5.6 Radiance Invariance at an Interface 132

5.7 Radiance Through a Lens 134

5.8 Radiance in Absorbing and Scattering Media 135

5.9 Concentrating Radiance Meter 136

5.10 The Limits of Optical Concentration 141


End Notes 145

6 Optical Properties of Materials 147

6.1 Introduction 147

6.2 Terminology 148


viii Introduction to Radiometry and Photometry

6.3 Surface and Interface Optical Properties 150


6.3.1 Conductor Optical Properties 150
6.3.2 Nonconductor Optical Properties 151
6.3.3 Surface Emission Properties 152
6.3.4 Angular Dependence of Dielectric Optical Properties 157
6.3.5 Rough Surfaces 162

6.4 Bulk Medium Optical Properties 162

6.5 Properties of Plane Parallel Plates 168


6.5.1 Nonscattering Media 169
6.5.2 Scattering Media 175

6.6 Angular Dependence 177

6.7 Broadband Angle Properties 181


6.7.1 Transmittance and Reflectance Equations 181
6.7.2 Specular and Diffuse Optical Properties 184

6.8 Spectral Dependence 186

6.9 Broadband Spectral Properties 187

6.10 Spectral Selectivity 189


End Notes 197

7 The Detection of Radiation 201

7.1 Introduction 201

7.2 Basic Concepts 202

7.3 Classification of Detectors 208


7.3.1 Thermal Detectors 208
7.3.2 Photemissive Detectors 213
7.3.3 Semiconductor Devices 218
7.3.4 Multielement Detectors, Charge Transfer Devices,
and Imagers 227

7.4 Detector Noise 231

7.5 Signal Modulation and Radiation Chopping 234

7.6 Characterization of Detector Performance 237


7.6.1 Responsivity, R 238
Contents ix

7.6.2 Quantum Efficiency, η 238


7.6.3 Noise Equivalent Power, NEP 239
7.6.4 Detectivity, D 240
7.6.5 Photon Noise-Limited Performance 240

7.7 Flux Conditoning Prior to the Detector 242


7.7.1 Cosine Response Correction 242
7.7.2 Photopic Correction 245
7.7.3 Spectral Filtering 246

7.8 Signal Conditioning Affer the Detector 249

7.9 Detector Calibration 249

7.10 Example Detectors and Their Characteristics 251


End Notes 259

8 Optical Systems 263

8.1 Introduction 263

8.2 Optical Axis 264

8.3 Idealized (Thin) Lens Theory 265

8.4 Radiance and Irradiance of Images 270

8.5 Vignetting 273

8.6 Aberrations 273


8.6.1 Spherical Aberration 273
8.6.2 Chromatic Aberration 276
8.6.3 Distortion 277
8.6.4 Coma 277
8.6.5 Astigmatism 278
8.6.6 Field Curvature 279
8.6.7 Correctiug Aberrations 280
8.6.8 The Diffraction Limit 280

8.7 Image Quality 282

8.8 Flux Distribution 283

8.9 Nonimaging Optical Systems 285


x Introduction to Radiometry and Photometry

8.10 Throughput 287

8.11 Integrating Spheres 289


8.11.1 Cosine Correction 292
8.11.2 Transmissometers and Reflectometers 293

8.12 Monochromators 297


8.12.1 Spectral Filters 297
8.12.2 Scanning Monochromators 304

8.13 Windows 310

8.14 Sources 311

8.15 Goniometers 312

8.16 Transmissometers/Reflectometers 313

8.17 Scattering Meters, Nephelometers, Turbidimeters,


and Haze Meters 313
End Notes 320

9 Radiometers and Photometers 325

9.1 Introduction 325

9.2 General Design Factors 327

9.3 Broadband Irradiance and Radiance Meters 329

9.4 Restricted Spectral Band Irradiance Meters for the


Ultraviolet through the Infrared 333

9.5 Illuminance and Luminance Meters 333

9.6 Spectroradiometers 334

9.7 Calibration of Radiometers and Photometers 338


9.7.1 Transfer Standards 340
9.7.2 Broadband Irradiance Standard Sources 343
9.7.3 Standard Sources for Spectral Irradiance and
Spectral Radiance 344
9.7.4 Absolute Radiometry 346
9.7.5 Standard Illuminance and Luminance Sources 351
Contents xi

9.7.6 Radiometer/Photometer Calibration Using


Standard Sources 351
9.7.7 Spectroradiometer Calibration 352
9.7.8 National Standards Laboratories and Other Labs
and Instrument Organizations 353
End Notes 355

10 Metric Primer and Additional Radiometric and


Photometric Quantities and Units 359

10.1 Introduction 359

10.2 The SI System of Units 360


10.2.1 Basic Metric Principles 360
10.2.2 Metric Units for Radiometry and Photometry 363

10.3 The I-P System of Units 364

10.4 Photon Flux Units 364

10.5 Other Quantities and Units 365


End Notes 368

11 Virtual Measurement: Computerized Optical


Ray Trace Analysis 371

11.1 Introduction 371

11.2 Ray Tracing in Radiometry and Photometry 374

11.3 Rays and Their Limitations in Ray Tracing Programs 374

11.4 Computerized Optical Ray Tracing Methodology 377

11.5 The Ray Tracing Process 378

11.6 Analysis of Results 383


End Notes 391

12 Basic Concepts of Color Science 393

12.1 Introduction 393

12.2 Basic Concepts And Definitions 394


xii Introduction to Radiometry and Photometry

12.3 Systems of Color Specification 399


12.3.1 Munsell Color System 400
12.3.2 CIE 1976 (L*a*b*) Color Space 402
12.3.3 Tristimulus Colorimetry 402

12.4 CIE 1931 Color System 404

12.5 CIE 1964 Supplementary Observer Color System 409

12.6 CIE 1976 Uniform Color Space 411

12.7 Color Temperature 414

12.8 Standard Illuminants and Reflection Colorimetry 415


12.8.1 Blackbody Illuminants 417
12.8.2 Daylight IIIuminants 419
12.8.3 Reflection Colorimetry 421

12.9 Color Rendering Index 422

12.10 Color Software 425


End Notes 427

Appendix A: Correspondence Between Finite


Elements and the Calculus 431

A.1 Introduction 431

A.2 Definition of the Derivative 432

A.3 Definition of the Integral 434

A.4 Integrals As Sums 436

A.5 Sums over Solid Angles 437


End Notes 441

Appendix B
Table of Physical and Mathematical Constants 443

About the Author 445

Index 447
Introduction
Radiometry is a system of language, mathematics, and instrumentation
used to describe and measure the propagation of electromagnetic radiation,
including the effects on that radiation of reflection, refraction, absorption,
transmission, and scattering by material substances in their solid, liquid, and
gaseous phases.
Photometry is a system used for the same purpose when the radiation
is to be detected by the human eye, so it applies to a more restricted portion
of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Having the languages of radiometry and photometry helps make the
definitions and explanations of various descriptive quantities precise and
meaningful.
Evolution of the subject and the units used. Radiometry and photometry
have evolved considerably over the long history of civilization’s development of
science and engineering. In the beginning, the terminology used was invented
by early scientists attempting to make sense of the visible world around them.
Thus, many of the early terms and units predated the more logical and consis-
tent international systems of units and terminology used today, infusing the
early development of this field with a possibly confusing set of names as well as
units for the quantities presented in this book.
For example, the Anglo-Saxon period in England used the North German
foot (335 mm or 12.2 inches in current units) as the basis unit of length and it
was divided into 4 palms or 12 thumbs. A cubit was set to be 2 feet and an elne
to 4 ft. The rod (15 Anglo-Saxon ft) was used for the measurement of larger
distances, including the furlong (10 rods). An acre became 160 square rods and
36,000 Anglo-Saxon feet [1].
From the early English system of physical units there evolved what is
currently known variously as the “inch-pound,” “British imperial,” and “U.S.

xiii
xiv Introduction to Radiometry and Photometry

customary” systems of measurement, based on the inch for length, pound for
force or mass, gallon for volume, and second for time (known as the IPS sys-
tem). Along the way, the unit of luminous flux per unit area was called the
foot-candle, since it was defined as the flux per unit area one foot distant from
a standard candle flame. Alhough that was later supplanted with a definition
based not on a candle but on a point source emitting uniform radiation, the
name foot-candle (FC) stuck in the U. S. customary system of measurement.
As the metric system (called the MKS for meter-kilogram-second and
currently named the International System of Units, or SI for Systeme Interna-
tionale in French) was developed, the unit of luminous flux was given the name
lumen and the international metric system assigned the name lux to one lumen
per square meter, the current standard for illuminance in the SI system.
Most light meters offered for sale today give readings in both lux and FC.
As the old FC was being deprecated (declared obsolescent), instructors
came to use humorous means to help students avoid the old, archaic units. One
made a wax sculpture of a human foot and placed a wick between the second
and third toe, lit it with a match, and called it a “foot candle.” Another drew
a cartoon image of a swami reading a book, standing on one leg and holding
with his other foot above his head a candle with a flame. To the right of this he
drew another cartoon of a human foot placed on a tabletop weigh scale adjacent
to a mechanical contraption causing a hammer to descend repeatedly onto the
toes of a human foot. Below that was placed the admonition: “One must never
confuse a foot-candle with a foot pound or a pound foot.” Today, most books
and courses on illumination and lighting design use the more rational metric
system, the SI system, and measuring devices have become quite sophisticated
and both precise and accurate.

Small candles molded in the shape of a foot (with the wick sticking up
from the middle of the cut above the ankle) were distributed by General
Electric during the 1960s as advertising novelties. These visual puns
promoted GE’s line of fluorescent lighting and were an intentional
reference to the unit of light. The sole of the “foot” placed on a tabletop
had a label reading “GE makes the difference in light!” These were
functional candles that could be lit. They were not, however, “standard
candles” nor did they deliver any calibrated amount of illuminance.

Early theories of and teachings on illumination. Early investigators weren’t sure


what light was. In 430 BC Empedocles and in 300 BC Euclid thought light was
composed of particles streaming from the eyes to objects, thereby facilitating
vision. Euclid later indicated he thought light went the other way, as did Des-
cartes around 1640 CE. These thinkers had only crude understandings of light.
In the seventeenth century Isaac Newton used the term “corpuscles” for the par-
ticles of light he thought were emitted by objects. Later physicists assumed the
Introduction xv

existence of a “luminiferous aether,” a medium pervading the universe which


carried light as oscillations of this substance.
Many past introductory treatments of photometry have tended to invite
confusion rather than understanding. In some cases this accurately reflected
a real confusion in the literature. The fundamental nature of the basic photo-
metric quantities easily can be obscured by a seemingly inconsistent, or at least
confusing, set of definitions and units [2]. This was described in 1967 by Biber-
man in “Apples, Oranges, and Unlumens” [3].
Teaching approaches. Some of the confusion faced by students stems from
presenting new concepts defined in terms of quantities that are themselves
unfamiliar. It is hoped that the approach incorporated herein overcomes at
least some of these problems by defining first only the most basic of the ra-
diometric quantities and then by showing one simple equation that represents
the conversion of all relevant radiometric quantities to the corresponding
photometric ones.
Even if trained to use mostly the SI system, students are often confronted
by bewildering radiometric and photometric terminology appearing in the
literature, including a large number of names for radiometric and photomet-
ric quantities and the use of different systems of units, many of which are
unfamiliar in other disciplines. These names include: lumen, luminance,
illuminance, lux, foot-candle, candela, nit, foot-Lambert, stilb, apostilb, and
many more.
Fortunately there is a trend toward increased uniformity in nomenclature
and units, but valuable older references still contain outdated terminology.
Chapter 10 is included to provide descriptions of some of the old usage and
units and to offer some conversion factors and procedures for converting to
the units in current use. It also offers a summary of the international metric
system, the SI system, used consistently in this book [4].
Over the last two decades the move to standardize radiometric and pho-
tometric terminology, symbols, and nomenclature has proceeded well. The pri-
mary standard for this in the United States is IES RP-16-10 “Nomenclature
and Definitions for Illuminating Engineering” published in 2010 by the Il-
luminating Engineering Society of North America [5]. This publication is in
general agreement with the primary international standard for terminology in
this field, the International Lighting Vocabulary published by the International
Lighting Commission (CIE), and referenced repeatedly in this book [6].
The trend toward increased uniformity was promoted by Fred Nicode-
mus in a multidecade devotion to increasing the understanding of radio-
metric concepts and the standardization of sensible terminology and units.
Nicodemus’ work culminated in a series of reports from the National Bu-
reau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST)) making up the separate chapters of a work called “Self-Study Manual
xvi Introduction to Radiometry and Photometry

on Optical Radiation Measurements” [7]. Readers interested in exploring the


fields of radiometry and photometry in more depth than is offered in this
text are referred to this series of reports and to a number of additional treat-
ments of the subject [8].
Additional useful references include the Illuminating Engineering Society
of North America’s handbooks on a variety of relevant topics in illumination
engineering. You can find a comprehensive listing at http://www.ies.org/store/,
as well as in [9].
International standards organizations such as ISO and CIE offer stan-
dards for quantities and their units. In particular, ISO 80000 Quantities and
Units—Part 6: Electromagnetism and Part 7: Light were published in 2008 and
the CIE International Lighting Vocabulary mentioned previously was published
in 2011 [6].
The goal of this book. Many publications, including textbooks on optical
physics dealing with electromagnetic radiation and its propagation in space
speak of only one radiometric quantity (probably irradiance), mistakenly
calling it “ intensity” and relating it to the square of the amplitude of an
oscillating field quantity (the electric field or the magnetic field). These texts
seldom explain in adequate detail how this quantity relates to internation-
ally standardized concepts in radiometry. A discussion of that can be found
in Chapter 1, Section 1.6.
It is hoped this book will help readers overcome such problems by
presenting in one relatively concise document the fundamental concepts
of radiometry and photometry, the basic concepts of optical properties of
materials, and some information on the uses of the radiometric and
photometric quantities in various application areas. A number of worked
examples are included at the end of most chapters to aid the student in
mastering the subject quickly and a few examples are presented at different
places in the body of the text.
Below are some examples of general fields and application areas in
which radiometry and photometry have proven to be very useful, if not
essential:

• Studies of radiative transfer in free space as well as in scattering and


absorbing media, including natural bodies of water and planetary
atmospheres.
• Studies of electromagnetic radiation produced in a variety of nuclear
reactions and other sub-atomic processes, including that produced in
particle accelerators.
Introduction xvii

• Studies of illumination, both electrically produced and from the sun


and sky. These could include bioluminescence and light produced by
chemical reactions.
• The design of electromagnetic radiation sources and measuring equip-
ment or instruments for analytical or other purposes. Although a spe-
cific treatment of radiation at microwave and radio frequencies is not
included here, the concepts of radiometry can be used in these fields.
• The design of photographic, video, and other image capture and dis-
play equipment, including astronomical telescopes and other sensing
systems.
• The design of components for coupling light or infrared radiation into
optical fibers.
• Weather and climate monitoring [10].
• Design of retroreflective optical components.
• Work in a variety of biomedical applications.
• Colorimetric studies in a variety of areas.

A few more specific applications can be mentioned in order to show the


variety of fields where radiometric and photometric concepts are used. These
include:

• Water turbidity measurement instrumentation design and use [11];


• Measurement of solar radiation for crop growth studies and for the
design of solar energy collection and conversion systems [12];
• Astronomical measurements of general electromagnetic radiation
from stars, planets, and other luminous heavenly bodies, including
Earth [13];
• Environmental remote sensing, including aircraft and satellite mea-
surements of upwelling radiation from the earth’s atmosphere and
surface [14];

This book can be used as a reference text by people working intermit-


tently in radiometry and photometry and needing a concise introduction or
refresher course periodically. It can also be used as a textbook in a short course
on radiometry and photometry at college or graduate level or for short courses
offered by universities and professional societies. With relevant supplementary
material, it can be the textbook for a one-semester college course on the subject.
xviii Introduction to Radiometry and Photometry

As such, it is presumed herein that the reader has general knowledge


of basic physics at the college level, including knowledge of electromagnetic
wave propagation. The mathematical skills presumed on the part of the reader
include algebra at the high school and college levels, high school geometry,
the basics of differential and integral calculus, and some familiarity with basic
analytic geometry.
Readers possessing somewhat limited mathematical skills can skip the
detailed derivations and focus mainly on the results obtained. For example,
much of Chapter 5 on radiance invariance is devoted to a derivation of
Equations (5.6), (5.14), and (5.16), which are the functional equations
expressing the invariance of what is called “ basic radiance.” The sections of
Chapter 5 subsequent to these equations are not as involved mathematically.
Finally, Appendix A offers an introduction to the basic elements of dif-
ferential and integral calculus, focusing on the correspondence between integral
calculus and finite sums as approximations, which some readers may find help-
ful in understanding the sections of this book dealing with integrals and their
numerical evaluation.

End Notes
[1] Availone, E., T. Baumeister, and A. Sadegh. Marks’ Standard Handoook for Mechanical En-
gineers, 11th Edition, New York: McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing, 2006; Zupko, R.
E. British Weights and Measures: A History from Antiquity to the Seventeenth Century, Uni-
versity of Wisconsin Press, 1977; Klein, H. A. The World of Measurements: Masterpieces,
Mysteries and Muddles of Metrology, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1974.
[2] McCluney, W. R. “Radiometry and Photometry,” Am. J. Phys. Vol. 36, 1968, pp. 977–979.
[3] Biberman, L. M., Appl. Opt., Vol. 6, 1967, p. 1127.
[4] The international system of units (System Internationale, or SI) called the metric system
is based on seven fundamental, or base, units of measurement: meter, kilogram, second,
ampere, kelvin, mole, and candela. In this system, energy is a derived quantity and the
primary unit of energy is the joule. In terms of the base units, a joule is a Kg·m2·sec-1. The
joule is equivalent to the newton meter. The photometric unit, candela, discussed in the
Chapter 2, is one of the seven base units of the SI system.
[5] IESNA, 345 East 47 Street, New York, NY 10017.
[6] CIE, International Lighting Vocabulary, CIE Publ. No. S 017/E:2011 ILV, Central Bu-
reau of the Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage, Kegelgasse 27, A-1030 Vienna,
P.O. Box 169, Austria, and Bureau Central de la Commission Eletrotechnique Interna-
tionale, 3, rue de Varembé, P.O. Box 131 CH 1211, Geneva 20, Switzerland. 2011. (See
http://www.cie.co.at/index.php/Publications/Standards. Also available from the national
committees of the CIE. In the United States, this document can be obtained from TLA-
Lighting Consultants, Inc., 7 Pond Street, Salem, MA 01970-4819 and from Thomson
Reuters/Techstreet, 3916 Ranchero Dr., Ann Arbor, MI, 48108. See also http://www.cie-
usnc.org/publications/cie-standards-store/.)
Introduction xix

[7] Nicodemus, F. E., ed. Self-Study Manual on Optical Radiation Measurements, NBS Tech-
nical Notes 910-1 through 910-7, U. S. Department of Commerce, National Bureau of
Standards (now National Institute of Standards and Technology), March 1976 through
April 1984.
[8] Grum, F. Optical Radiation Measurements, A Treatise, Volumes 1 through 5, Academic
Press, 1979–1983; Wyatt, C. L. Radiometric Calibration: Theory and Methods, New York:
Academic Press, 1978; Boyd, R. W. Radiometry and the Detection of Optical Radiation,
New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1983; Driscoll, W. G., ed. Handbook of Optics, New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1978, Section 1, Radiometry and Photometry; Nicode-
mus, F. E. “Radiance,” Am. J. Phy. Vol. 31, 1963, p. 368; Meyer-Arendt, J. R. “Radiom-
etry and Photometry: Units and Conversion Factors,” Appl. Opt. Vol. 7, 1968, p. 2081;
Tyler, J. E. “Applied Radiometry,” Oceanography and Marine Biology, An Annual Review,
Vol. 11, Harold Barnes,ed., London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1973; Nicodemus, F.
E., et. al. “Geometrical Considerations and Nomenclature for Reflectance,” NBS Mono-
graph 160, U.S. Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards (now National
Institute for Standards and Technology), October 1977; Siegel, R., and J. R. Howell,
Thermal Radiation Heat Transfer, 2nd Edition, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981; Bass, M.
ed., Handbook of Optics, Volumes I–V, Optical Society of America, McGraw-Hill, 2010
(esp. Volume III, containing a chapter on photometry and radiometry); DeCusatis, C.,
ed., Handbook of Applied Photometry, Melville, NY: AIP Press, 1997; Walsh, J., Photometry,
published by Constable based on an original from the University of California, 1958 (also
published by Dover Press, NY, as part of its series on physics and mathematical physics;
see also the unabridged and unaltered republication of the third revised edition by Dover,
New York, in 1965).
[9] Kaufman, J. E., and J. F. Christensen, IES Lighting Ready Reference: A Compendium of Def-
initions, Conversion Factors, Lighting Source Tables, 2nd Edition, Illuminating Engineering
Society of North America, 1990 (additional IESNA examples: USA Standard Nomencla-
ture and Definitions for Illuminating Engineering, RP-16, IESNA, 120 Wall St., Floor
17, New York, NY, 10005-4001, published in 1986; and DiLaura, D., K. Houser, R.
Mistrick, and Gary Steffy, eds. IES Lighting Handbook, 10th Edition, New York: IESNA.
[10] Weather- and climate-related information sources provided by the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory in Golden, CO include many solar and other environmental radiation
applications, http://www.nrel.gov/publications/, http://www.nrel.gov/renewable_resources/.
[11] McCluney, R., “Radiometry of Water Turbidity Measurements,” J. Water Poll. Contr. Fed.,
Vol. 47, No. 2, 1975, pp. 252–266.
[12] Duffie, J. A., and Beckman, W. A., Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes, 2nd Edition,
New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1991.
[13] McCluney, W. R., “Remote Measurement of Water Color,” Remote Sens. Environ., Vol. 5,
1976, pp. 3–33; Peterson, C. A., B. R. Hawke, P. G. Lucey, and C. R. Coombs, “Spectral
Reflectance Studies of the Grimaldi Region of the Moon,” Geophys. Res. Lett., Vol. 22, No.
22, 1995, pp. 3055–3058.
[14] Campbell, J. B. and R. H. Wynne, Introduction to Remote Sensing, Fifth Edition, New
York: The Guilford Press, 2011; NASA, “Remote Sensing,” http://science.nasa.gov/earth-
science/oceanography/living-ocean/remote-sensing/; Purkis, S. and V. Klemas, Remote
Sensing and Global Environmental Change, Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
Acknowledgments
The author gratefully acknowledges Frances Rubenstein of Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory, whose interest led to the idea for writing the first edi-
tion of this book, and to Paul Jindra, formerly with the Florida Solar Energy
Center, for his painstaking review of portions of the original manuscript
and many helpful suggestions. Dr. Arthur Tarrant is kindly thanked for
his suggestions for improving the manuscript. David Goebel and William
E. Schneider are thanked for the material they provided about colorimetry
and standards in radiometry and photometry. Dr. Laney R. Mills is thanked
for his extensive and invaluable assistance in checking some of the worked
examples and making numerous suggestions throughout the text. Formerly
an associate professor of physics at the College of Charleston, Dr. Mills was on
sabbatical leave at the National Center for Atmospheric Research when this
assistance was provided. Donna Waters, formerly a graduate assistant working
for me at the Florida Solar Energy Center, then a staff scientist at Ball Aerospace
and Technologies Corporation and currently with Proof of Concept Optical
Engineering of Boulder, CO, is thanked for her comments and suggestions on
Chapter 11. Dr. William Donnelly and Dr. John Herlocker, both of Breault
Research Organization, are gratefully acknowledged for their critical reading
of Chapter 11. An anonymous reviewer is appreciated for the many excellent
comments and suggestions made on the manuscript as it was being readied for
publication.

xxi
1
Fundamental Concepts of Radiometry

1.1 Electromagnetic Radiation


Radiation is the propagation of energy in a variety of forms through space.
Radiometry is a system of concepts, terminology, mathematical relationships,
measurement instruments, and units of measure devised to describe and mea-
sure radiation and its interaction with matter. Photometry is a similar system
for radiation intended for detection by the human eye. Photometry is discussed
in Chapter 2.
Although the concepts of radiometry can be used to describe nuclear ra-
diation, including flux fields of energetic particles following straight line trajec-
tories in the absence of perturbing influences, they are generally used only for
electromagnetic radiation. This book deals with the latter exclusively.
In radiometry and photometry, one is concerned with how radiation is
distributed over the electromagnetic spectrum. Such a distribution is called
a spectral distribution, or spectrum. Thus we begin our study of radiometry
with the electromagnetic spectrum, illustrated in Figure 1.1, which has labels
for different portions of the spectrum of interest in different fields of study.
The International Commission on Illumination (Commission Internationale de
l’Eclairage, or CIE) has standardized the terminology shown in Table 1.1 for the
portions of the spectrum [1] containing and surrounding the visible portion
dealt with most in the fields of radiometry and photometry. The spectral range
of visible radiation does not have precise limits because these limits vary from
person to person.
Monochromatic radiation is radiation having only one frequency and
wavelength. Wavelength is given the Greek symbol λ and has units of meters,

1
2 Introduction to Radiometry and Photometry

or the submultiples of the meter given in Figure 1.1. (More information on the
metric system and metric terminology can be found in Chapter 10.) Frequency
is given the Greek symbol ν and has units of cycles or periods per second. One
cycle per second is called one hertz, abbreviated Hz.
The wavelength λ and frequency ν of a monochromatic beam are related
by the equation

c= λν (1.1)

where c is the speed of light in the medium through which the radiation is
propagating. The speed of light in a vacuum is 299,792,458 m·s–1. It is not
much different from this value in air at sea level. One can select a wavelength
(or frequency) of interest and use (1.1) to determine the corresponding fre-
quency (or wavelength).
The human eye is most responsive to radiation at about 555 nm in wave-
length. The corresponding frequency is 5.4 × 1014 Hz. The eye is not visu-
ally responsive to radiation below 360 nm or above 830 nm.
Knowledge of the spectral distribution of radiation is crucial for many
applications of radiometry and photometry. The optical properties of materi-
als such as transmittance, reflectance, and absorptance are generally dependent
on the wavelength of radiation incident upon them or passing through them.
One is therefore interested in spectral variations in the transmission, reflection,
refraction, and absorption properties of materials.

Figure 1.1 Portions of the electromagnetic spectrum of interest in many fields of study. UV
means ultraviolet and IR means infrared.
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“But I am Porphyrio!” cried the Prince, “and I was on my way to find
you, noble Liria, when the storm swept me to this isle.”
You may be sure the heart of the Princess leaped when she heard
these tidings!
Forgetting that he was himself but a shipwrecked wanderer much in
need of aid, the Prince, like the brave fellow that he was, could think
of nothing but of rescuing his lady from the dark magician; as for
the Princess, she could think of naught but the plight of Porphyrio,
tossed friendless and forlorn upon the isle. But at length she shook
her head and smiled.
“To-day,” said she, “is mine, and to-morrow also; but the Magician
has bidden me be prepared for the wedding feast by sundown on
the following day. But, look, the shield of the sun breaks the storm
clouds close above the waters; twilight approaches; the hour of the
magician is at hand; you must go. Hide yourself well to-night, and
come to the garden to-morrow when the chimes ring thrice. On yon
dark wall you will find some strangely shaped fruits growing; fear
not to eat of them when you hunger. Liria the Unhappy bids you
farewell, Prince Porphyrio.”
“Farewell, Princess,” replied Porphyrio. “Do not despair. We shall yet
outwit the dark Magician!”

And now the Prince lay hid in the heart of a great tree, watching the
doors and windows of the palace slowly opening in the twilight.
Suddenly huge bells swung forth in waves of heavy sound, strange
music played, and the thousand windows filled with the magic glow
of moon-fire. All night long the people of the night held festival; but
at the break of dawn the silver windows closed slowly on their
hinges, the music grew faint, and the murmur died away.
On the second afternoon the Prince, in his impatience, came early to
the shadowy garden. The Princess Liria was not to be found, so
Porphyrio wandered away into the dark alleys by the pools. Suddenly
he found himself looking at his own reflection in a huge round mirror
which two marble statues supported between them, one at each
side. Happening to move a little, the Prince discovered that his
reflection did not move! He lifted an arm, the image remained
motionless; he shook his head, the mirror gave no sign. Puzzled,
Porphyrio left the spot, and saw his reflection remaining behind the
glass.
Presently he heard the welcome footsteps of Liria. And as the lovers
walked and talked and discussed plans of escape, the Prince
chanced to tell of the mirror he had found. Uttering a little gasp of
alarm, the Princess cried: “Now we are lost indeed! Yon mirror is a
mirror of memory, and reveals to the Magician the faces of those
who walk these paths. As soon as he sees your reflection therein,—
and he gazes into the glass every eve,—his demons will be sent in
search of you. There is one hope and one only.
“Go you once more to the sea; follow the cliff for a league to the
west of the promontory, and you will find at its base the opening of
an ocean cave. When you arrive there the tide will be at half-flood,
and the entrance will still be visible above the waves. Fight your way
within and climb to the cavern’s height. Little by little the rising tide
will seal the portal and hide you from the search. Make haste, dear
Porphyrio, for there is not an instant to lose! Oh, that I had warned
you!”
The image in the mirror stood still

Ragingly angry with himself for being a meddlesome fool, Porphyrio


hurried down to the sea and sought out the cave. Twilight was at
hand; the tide was rising fast, already the entrance was almost
closed by the sea. Buffeted by the breakers and tossed against the
cliff as he strode, the Prince at length made his way into the cave
and climbed to a shelf of rock above the height of the tide. A few
minutes later, the water closed the entrance completely, thus
imprisoning Porphyrio in a hollow darkness through which the ebb
and flow of the outer sea swept with chuckles and whispering
laughter. All night long waited Porphyrio in the cold, watery dark.
Toward the end of the Prince’s vigil, the earth suddenly shook, the
waters hushed, and through the silence and the dark Porphyrio
heard the long thunder of a mighty overthrow.
“What can that be?” thought he.
When the first red rays of the sun streamed along the rocky floor of
the cave, Porphyrio descended from his refuge, and walked out of
the cave-mouth to the sea.
Now, as Porphyrio walked along the shore, it came to pass that he
discerned, deeply embedded in the bluish sands and lashed about
with ropes of matted weed, the splendid painted chest which had
lain in his cabin on the ship. Its brazen lock, though tarnished by the
waters, was still highly clasped; but sea and stone had broken the
wood loose from the hasps, and the Prince had little difficulty in
raising the lid. With a rueful smile he gazed down into his robes and
fine array lying musty and sand-strewn within. There lay his prince’s
circlet of gold, here his jeweled sword of state, here the rich gifts he
had meant for the Princess Liria. And among these, tucked away in
the very corner of the chest, Porphyrio found the sunbeam he had
purchased at the Fair of the Golden Bear.
“Were Liria armed with this,” cried he, “the Magician of the Night
could not prevail against her!” At the thought, a new strength leaped
in his weary heart, and he hurried along the cliff toward the
promontory. The storm had now cleared away, the ocean thundered
and broke into silvery white foam at the foot of the blue ramparts,
and the Isle of the Night raised itself defiantly against a bright and
royal sun.
The Magician, however, had not been idle. The mirror had told its
story; a search had been made; a legion of creatures had sought
Porphyrio in every corner of the isle. Compelled by the approach of
dawn to abandon this pursuit, the Magician resolved to render the
island unapproachable from the sea. With a spell of tremendous
power he caused the promontory to break from the other cliff and
fall in scattered and monstrous ruin to the beach below. It was the
thunder of this overthrow which had shaken the earth and sounded
through the cave.
As a last precaution, the Magician forbade Liria to leave the Palace of
the Night, and locked and sealed the doors and windows, every one.
Presently the Prince, hastening along the beach, came in sight of the
ruined headland, and a great fear laid its icy hand on his heart as he
beheld the triumph of his enemy. How was he to reach the headland
height? The cliff-wall now circled the entire island without a break.
League after league he trudged, along the shore, through the tide,
searching, searching for some way to scale the overhanging walls.
Higher and higher climbed the sun. The shadows fell to the east, the
afternoon waned, and still Porphyrio had found no path to the top.
Desperate at last, he attempted to scale the steep face of the blue
precipice. From ledge to ledge, climbing with torn fingers and aching
arms, struggled the Prince, and presently, his further advance
barred, fell backward, faint and overcome, on a shelf of rock high
above the sea.
When his strength returned, he found himself close by an eyrie of
sea birds brooding on their nests in shelves and rifts of the rock.
With a great clamor of piping and crying the creatures rose startled
from their nests, so filling the air with wings that Porphyrio closed
his eyes. Suddenly the master of the eyrie, uttering a joyous call,
swept down close to the Prince, and with an upward surge of his
heart Porphyrio recognized the winged king whose freedom he had
purchased at the Fair of the Golden Bear! And now the sea birds
gathered about the Prince, some gathering folds of his garments into
their talons, others lifting him on broad wings, till presently he was
borne from the narrow ledge and the sound of the sea into the
splendor and silence of the sky.
The end of day was at hand. Unveiled of any wisp of cloud, the fiery
sun lay just above the western waters, its lower rim almost resting
on the waves. Once again approached the hour of the Magician of
the Night.
The cloud of sea birds flew inland over the blue isle, and settled to
earth at the very doors of the Palace of the Night. And opening his
arms to them, Porphyrio cried aloud his thanks as they wheeled and
fled.
The Prince walked boldly to the great door, and blew a loud blast on
the warder’s horn. There came no answer to his call. The Palace of
the Night remained silent and dark. The sun’s rim dipped; a little
breeze made its way from the sea through the mysterious gardens;
the flowers of the night stirred like sleepers in a dream.
“O jewel of the sun,” cried Porphyrio, “Give me now your aid!” And
with these words he touched the sunbeam to the lock. A crack
resounded, then a shattering crash, and the doors swung open wide.
Hastening on twixt other and other doors and through heavy
tapestries, Porphyrio at length found himself at the thresh-hold of
the great hall of the Palace of the Night. Rich hangings of dark blue
velvet, strewn with stars of silver and gold, hung from the giant
walls; a thousand lamps of pale moon-fire swayed on silver chains
from the unseen height o’erhead; there were huge columns, and
dark aisles. To one side of the hall, by a silver throne raised upon a
dais, stood the Magician of the Night, his arms folded on his breast.
Proud and pale by his side, near a second throne, stood the Princess
Liria. About them were gathered the people of the Night.
As the doors parted, all turned to gaze at Porphyrio.
Fixing his dark eyes upon the Prince, the Magician spake a terrible
incantation; but his words shattered themselves against the
sunbeam as a threatening wave breaks to drift and foam against a
crag.
“Seize him!” commanded the Magician.
At these words a host of dark beings surged about Porphyrio,
encircling him, yet afraid to attack. Porphyrio took Liria by the hand,
and led her toward the door. But even as he did so, the Magician
caused awesome silvery fires to bar the outward way.
At the horizon’s edge, the waters were leaping up about the sun.
Baffled by the flame, Porphyrio, still guarding Liria, fought his way
toward a great stair at the very end of the hall. In the wall there,
barred with silver and shuttered with stone, a giant circular window
faced the west. And now there rose a tumult through the hall, and
sounds of magic and thunder. Nothing daunted, Porphyrio touched
the sunbeam to the window-bar, and threw the double shutters open
wide. The sun was yet above the wave, sky and water were aflame,
and the great tide of sunlight swept into the Palace of the Night like
the music of many trumpets.
From all within the Palace a great wailing cry arose that presently
died away. When Porphyrio and Liria turned to gaze, the Magician
and his people had vanished, conquered and forever powerless. And
the velvet hangings were but cobwebs clinging to the walls, and the
lamps of moon-fire but empty shells.
Then Porphyrio and Liria walked hand in hand to the darkening sea,
and beheld there a brave merchant-ship which the sea bird was
guiding to the isle. You may be sure it did not take the jolly mariners
long to rescue the lovers from the headland! And thus the Prince
and Princess fared to Liria’s realm, where there their marriage was
celebrated with the greatest ceremony.
In time Porphyrio became a king and Liria a queen, and thus they
lived happily ever after.
THE ENCHANTED BABY
Once upon a time the King of a great country had a quarrel with a
goblin. Now it chanced that the King had the best of the dispute,
and this so angered the goblin that he departed from the realm and
cast about for an opportunity to do a mischief to his foe.
Now, as the goblin bided his time, it came to pass that the King and
the Queen, who had long been childless, became the proud parents
of a bouncing baby boy. From rosy summer morn to the murmuring
quiet of a summer night, the whole realm gave itself over to
rejoicing. Bells rang from the towers in cities and steeples in the
fields, cannon boomed from castle towers, and small cakes, each
one iced with the Prince’s monogram in red and white sugar, were
distributed by royal command among the children of the realm.
Now it was the custom of the country that the heir to the throne be
shown to the assembled nobility of the realm on the first day of his
seventh week in this changing world of ours, and presently this day
stood at hand upon the calendar.
On the afternoon of the ceremony, the scene within the great hall of
the palace was magnificence itself! Assembled by thousands and ten
thousands, the magnificoes of the land, all in ceremonial attire,
moved or tried to move about; but as the huge hall was crowded to
its bulging doors, this was difficult, and there were, I regret to say,
the usual faintings from lack of air, cries of protest, bad-tempered
pushing, caps knocked awry, crumpled ruffs, and lost jewels.
Suddenly the great bell of the palace set up a ponderous and solemn
booming—the ceremony was about to begin! Mercilessly crowding
back the already densely jammed magnificoes on the toes of still
other magnificoes, a number of gentleman ushers contrived to open
an aisle the length of the hall, and when this feat had been
accomplished, the two tallest sergeants in the royal army opened the
double portals leading forth from the royal drawing-room. And now,
heralded by a great ringing peal of golden trumpets, and
accompanied by a crash of exultant thunder on the palace organ, a
noble procession slowly advanced through the gateway into the hall.
The generalissimo of the royal armies came first, marching solemnly
and quite alone, for he was marshal of the occasion; then came
trumpeters in green and yellow; then a chosen detail of giant
grenadiers dressed in rose-red and silver-grey; then pages scattering
flowers from golden baskets; then a little space; and then,
advancing with the dignity of a cloud; appeared the Lord Chancellor,
wheeling in the baby.
Of finest yellow gold were the wheels and push-bar of the
perambulator, whilst the carriage part had been hollowed from a
single stupendous opal! Amid a deafening din of huzzas and shouts
and bell clangs, the procession solemnly advanced to a dais raised at
the head of the hall.
Suddenly an invisible shape fluttered in through a window, muttered
something beside the baby’s cradle, uttered a mocking goblin laugh,
and fled away unperceived and unsuspected.
After wheeling the baby to the centre of the dais, the Lord
Chancellor gave a signal to the trumpeters to break into the national
anthem, and bent over the cradle to take the infant and show him to
the throng. To his horror, the cradle was empty! The little Prince’s
pillow was there, the coverlet edged with turquoise, and the rattle
filled with seed pearls—but no baby.
“The baby! The baby! Where’s the baby?” gulped the Lord
Chancellor, scarce able to speak. An awkward pause followed:
excited whispers, conjectures, rumors buzzed through the audience.
Presently, as the truth began to spread, a growing uproar rocked the
hall. Soon everybody was busily looking here and there—lifting up
edges of carpets, poking about behind curtains, staring at the
ceiling, and examining corners.
All at once a baby’s cry was heard, faint to be sure, but quite
unmistakable.
“Search, search, my friends!” cried the King. “The Grand Cross of the
Order of the Bluebird to whosoever discovers my child!”
The baby’s cry was heard again! Where could he be?
Suddenly a clever young lady-in-waiting, who had been searching
the opal carriage, uttered a piercing shriek. While groping about in
the perambulator, she had felt the baby, but had been unable to see
him. Like a sudden crumbling of walls, the dreadful truth broke upon
everyone present.
The baby had become invisible!
Invisible he was, and invisible he remained. You may well believe
that his upbringing was indeed a difficult task! To make matters
worse, it was soon discovered that not only was the Prince himself
totally invisible, but also that such clothes as touched him became
invisible, too. One could feel the little Prince, one could hear him—
and that was all. Thus, if he crept away on the nursery floor, one
had either to grope for him through the clear air, carefully feeling
here and feeling there, or wait until he cried. No wonder the poor
Queen was forever searching the land for new nurses-in-waiting, and
forever sending home nurses whose nerves had proved unequal to
the strain! One could never tell what might be happening.
On one occasion, for instance, the child actually managed to escape
from his nursery to the sweeping lawns of the royal palace, and the
entire national army, working in scout formation, had to spend the
whole afternoon creeping about on its hands and knees before the
prince was found asleep in the shelter of a plum tree.
Now, when every attempt to undo the spell had failed, it came to
pass that the King went to visit the Wise Man of Pansophia, a
learned sage who sat in a wing chair beneath a green striped
umbrella at the crossroads of the world, giving counsel to all comers.
This sage was clad in the stately folds of a full black gown, a round
black velvet cap rested on the crown of his snow-white head, a
broad white beard lay spread upon his breast, and on his nose were
huge round spectacles, over whose edge he looked with an air of
solemn authority.
Beginning at the umbrella, an army of questioners, patiently waiting
in single file, stretched dozens of miles across the rolling land and
disappeared, still unbroken, over the crest of a distant hill. These
patient folk, it is a pleasure to relate, courteously gave way to the
unhappy King.
When he had heard the King’s story, the Wise Man shook his
venerable head, and replied in a voice which sounded like the
booming of waves on a resounding shore:—
“The spell which binds your son is a mighty one, and can only be
removed by touching him with the spell-dispeller, the all-powerful
talisman given your ancestor, King Decimo, by his fairy bride.”
“Alas,” replied the King, “the spell-dispeller was stolen from the royal
treasury twenty years ago. Could you not tell us who stole it, or
where it may be found?”
“Was it not the only spell-dispeller in the whole wide world?”
questioned the Wise Man.
“It was,” replied the King with a sad, assenting nod.
“Then it was stolen from you by the Master Thief of the Adamant
Mountains,” boomed the Wise Man.
“And perhaps you can tell us where he can be found,” said the King.
The Wise Man shook his head.
“Ask me where lies the raindrop which fell yesterday in the river,”
replied the Wise Man, “but ask me not where dwells the Master
Thief. I do not know. No one knows. But as for breaking the spell, it
is the spell-dispeller or nothing. Would that I could help you more!”
And, bidding the King a ceremonious farewell, the sage turned his
attention to the questioner at the head of the long line, a stout
peasant-fellow whose cottage chimney failed to draw.
But now you must hear of the Master Thief of the Adamant
Mountains.
This mysterious personage, of whom all had heard, but whom none
had seen, dwelt in a secret house in a lost valley of the mountains, a
house so artfully shaped and so cunningly concealed with vines and
branches, that the very birds of the air were deceived by it and
would often come to roost on the chimney, mistaking it for a
chestnut tree! As for the Master Thief himself, a kind of living bean-
pole was he, for he was taller than the tallest, leaner than the
leanest, and provided with a pair of long, tireless legs which could
outrun and outlast the swiftest coursers in the land.
During the night, he moved through the world in a strange garment
of pitchy blue-black, fitted as close to him as the skin to an eel;
during the day, he wore a marvelous vesture on which were painted
leaves, spots of sun, dabs of blue shade, and stripes of earthy
brown.
Now this Master Thief was no ordinary robber, for he stole not for
stealing’s sake, but only to gather new rarities for a wonderful
museum he housed in the caverns under his dwelling. Surely there
was never such a marvelous museum as the museum of the Master
Thief!
Deep in the solemn echoing caves, ticketed and labeled each one,
and arranged in order, shelf on shelf, was to be found the finest
specimen of everything in the world which men had made or loved.
The most comfortable chair in the world was there, the pointedest
pin, the warmest blanket, the loudest drum, the stickiest glue, the
most interesting book, the funniest joke, the largest diamond, the
most lifelike stuffed cat, the handsomest lamp-shade, and a
thousand things more. To relabel his collection, to move it about, to
do things to it and with it was the supreme delight of the Master
Thief. Seated in the most comfortable chair in the world, finger tips
together, he spent hours gloating on his treasures, and wondering if
he lacked aught beneath the sun. Presently he chanced to hear of
the invisible baby’s opal perambulator, and instantly determined to
add this new wonder to his gallery.
Going first to his secret den, he spun for himself a globe of delicate
glass, spoke five words into it, and sealed them snug within. Next,
he attired himself in his parti-colored suit, put the globe in his
pocket, and fled on his long legs over hill and over dale to the royal
city.
Arriving late in the afternoon, he made his way without difficulty into
the gardens of the palace. The day was fair as only a day on the
threshold of summer may be, and the opal perambulator stood
unattended in the shade of a clump of ancient trees. Magnificently
clad, a number of royal nurses were standing about the silver fence
which enclosed the prince’s romping-yard. Far off, in the sunny
distance, sounded the drums and fifes of the palace soldiery.
And now, creeping nearer unobserved, the Master Thief took the
crystal globe from his pocket and tossed it near the group. Striking
the ground, the globe burst with the faintest crystal tinkle, and the
words that the cunning Master Thief had sealed within escaped into
the air. And these words were:—
Oh, look at the balloon!
Immediately all the nurses looked to the sky to see the imaginary
balloon, and while they were looking here and looking there, the
Master Thief sprang to the opal perambulator, released the brake on
the golden wheels, and, pushing the carriage ahead of him, ran like
mad down the flower-bordered alleyways and out the garden gates
to the highroad.
Over hill, over dale, in a long straight line, fled the Master Thief with the golden
perambulator

Across the landscape in a long straight line fled the Master Thief on
his wonderful legs, pushing the perambulator all the while. Now they
saw him bouncing it across furrowed fields, now they saw it speed
like a jeweled boat through a sea of waving green grain, now they
beheld it scattering the silly sheep in the upland wilds.
Presently the bells of the city set up the maddest ringing; foot
soldiers were turned out on the roads, and squadrons of cavalry
were sent galloping after; but all in vain—the jeweled carriage,
blazing in the western glow, sped like a meteor over the land. The
last they saw of it was a moving streak of light along the steep slope
of a mountain, a light which gleamed for a moment on the crest like
a large, misplaced, and iridescent star, and then swiftly sank from
view.
When the Master Thief reached his secret haven in the valley, he
shouted aloud for triumph, and swiftly wheeled the perambulator
down to the museum. The most magnificent perambulator in the
world! Once more drawing forth the most comfortable chair, the
Master Thief sank into it and contemplated his newest prize.
Suddenly, a strange sound, half cry, half gurgle caused him to sit
bolt upright. Had someone discovered his secret treasury? What
could it mean? And now there came a second cry which ended in a
long protesting wail.
The Master Thief had stolen the invisible baby along with the
carriage!
Now the notion of having to take care of a baby, of any baby, was a
matter which might well alarm the Master Thief; but as for an
invisible baby, that was indeed a trial! All at once, however, the
Master Thief slapped his knee and chuckled for joy—he had thought
of the spell-dispeller! Holding aloft the brightest lantern in the world,
the robber made his way to the little side-cavern in which he had
placed the talisman.
His heart jumped. The spell-dispeller was gone!
Baffled and perplexed, the Master Thief began a nervous search of
the little cavern; but never a sign of the spell-dispeller could he find.
Vowing not to restore the Prince till he had found the talisman and
tested its power, the Master Thief at length abandoned the search
and carried the Prince through the caverns to his dwelling.

And now days passed, and months passed, and even years, without
bringing to light the spell-dispeller. From an invisible infant the Prince
grew to be an invisible boy, whose merry voice and friendly presence
played about the house of the Master Thief like a capful of summer
wind on a mountain lake.
Heigho, but after all it wasn’t so bad to be invisible! One could see
things and find things hidden away from all other mortals; one could
climb to the side of a bird’s nest, sit still, and watch the mother bird
feed her young; one could dive, unseen, into the clear, cold pools of
the mountain streams and pinch the lurking trout by their rippling
tails; one could follow the squirrel to his secret granary!
Now, during the Prince’s fifteenth year, it came to pass that the
Master Thief suddenly became ashamed of his wicked ways, so
ashamed indeed that he resolved not only to forgo further collecting
but also to return every single thing he had stolen! The invisible
Prince, I am glad to tell you, was of the greatest possible service to
the Master Thief in this honest task. And now, all over the kingdoms
of the world, people began to find their stolen possessions waiting
for them when they came down to breakfast in the morning: the
stuffed cat became once more the pride of the Blue Tower, the most
interesting book went back to its place on the shelves of the royal
library, the golden scroll of the funniest joke appeared as if by magic
on the wall of the king’s own room. Alas for human waywardness,
there were actually people who had grown so accustomed to the
loss of their belongings that they reviled the Master Thief for their
return. Dreadful to relate,—the style having changed,—the
handsomest lamp-shade was actually tossed in a well!
At the end of the fifth year, the opal perambulator and the invisible
Prince were the only two stolen things left to return. The invisible
youth was twenty years old. With a sorrowful heart, for the youth
was as dear to him as a son, the repentant Master Thief began
preparations to restore prince and perambulator to the unhappy
parents.
Now it came to pass that, on the morning of departure, the Master
Thief descended for the last time to the forlorn and dusty corridors
of his great museum and walked about the galleries, leaving
footprints in the dust and musing on the glories that had been. Here
had stood the shiniest rubber-plant, here the most beautiful hat-
rack, here the only eraser which had never rubbed a hole in the
paper. A tear gathered in his eye. He had loved them; he had stolen
them; he had restored them; he was free!
All at once his glance, roving empty shelves, fell on a tiny box
wedged in a sombre corner. With a loud shout of joy, the Master
Thief recognized the spell-dispeller! It had fallen behind a shelf and
had lain there concealed for almost twenty years! Thrusting it into
his pocket’s depth, the Master Thief bounded up the secret stairs to
the joy of the sun.
After a pleasant rambling journey in a huge coach, the Master Thief
and the invisible Prince reached the city at the twilight hour, and
took lodgings at a quiet, comfortable inn. The invisible Prince, I must
remind you, was still invisible.
Now it came to pass that when supper had been served and eaten,
the Master Thief and the invisible Prince went for a stroll through the
royal city. Much to the surprise of the travelers, they found the city
hung with streamers and bunting of the gayest kind. Stranger still, in
spite of this display, the citizens of the royal city appeared to be
particularly out of spirits.
“Good host,” said the Master Thief to the landlord of the inn, “pray
what means this air of jubilee? Do you make merry for some kingly
festival?”
“A festival, yes,” replied the host, looking about to see if anyone
were listening, “festival it is, but only in name. Have you not heard
the news? Let us walk a little to one side and I will tell you the story.
“Three years ago our gracious sovereign, the good King Valdoro the
Fourth—weary of the cares of state and still stricken to the heart by
the loss of his son, the invisible Prince of whom you may have heard
—gave over the guidance of the kingdom to the Marquis Malicorn.
Last week this official made himself master of the royal power,
imprisoned our dear King and Queen in a dark tower, and proclaimed
himself successor to the throne. The coronation is to be held to-
morrow afternoon in the great hall of the royal palace. Alas for the
people and the nation! Oh, if the invisible Prince would only return!”
To this the Master Thief nodded his head, his busy brain plotting all
the while. All at once he smiled. He had devised a plan.
And now it was once more the great hall of the castle, and once
more a sunny afternoon. Bells rang, but their cry was wingless and
leaden, and there was a dull and joyless note in the cannon’s roar.
Crowded as densely together as ever they were twenty years before,
the magnificoes sullenly awaited the arrival of the usurper and his
train.
Presently the portals were once more swept apart, revealing
Malicorn and his followers. Not a sound rose from the assembly.
Growling for rage beneath a huge pair of dragoon’s whiskers, the
wicked Marquis made his way to the dais and the coronation chair.
The noise of bells and cannon ceased. An official in blue advanced
with the royal robe.
Just as he was about to throw it over the waiting shoulders of the
usurper, an invisible something snatched the robe from him and, lo,
it melted into the air!
Exceedingly angry, yet disturbed at heart, Malicorn hoped for better
luck with the sceptre, but this, too, was snatched by an invisible
hand. As for the royal crown, it vanished from its purple cushion in
the twinkling of an eye.
Speechless with rage, Malicorn now rose to his feet, and stood
before the throne, glaring about into the air. Cries of defiance,
mingled with shouts of derision, rose from among the magnificoes.
And now, even as the turmoil was at its height, the Master Thief,
who had been concealed behind some curtains, strode boldly forth
to the dais, thrust Malicorn aside with a sweep of his long arms, and
shouted to the audience:—
“Magnificoes of the Realm, you came to see your King. Your rightful
King is here. Would you behold him?”
“Yes!” shouted the assembly in one voice. And now the Master Thief
touched the invisible Prince with the spell-dispeller.
The instant he did so a flash of deep golden light set everyone
blinking, fairy music was heard, and suddenly the invisible Prince
stood visible before the throne. He was tall, dark-haired, brown-
eyed, and a bit slim, and the crown was on his head, the robe on his
shoulders, and the sceptre in his hand.
And now the bells and cannon began to boom in real earnest, and a
gay breeze came sweeping in to toss the flags and banners that had
hung so still. Overcome by emotion, the generalissimo seized the
Lord Chancellor by the waist and swung him into a jig, the soldiers
all tossed their caps into the air and cheered like mad, whilst the
organist became so excited that he began to play two tunes at once.
Everybody was laughing and hallooing and hurrahing.
As for Malicorn and his crew, they were tumbling out the back door
as fast as their legs could carry them, and nobody has seen them
from that day to this.
Presently the old King and the Queen, released from the dark tower,
came hurrying in to greet their son.
“He resembles you, my dear,” whispered the King to the Queen.
The Master Thief was forgiven everything.
Singing and rejoicing, the people of the city poured from the houses
into the sunny streets.
Clang, clang! Boom! Clang, clang! Boom, boom! Boom! Boom!
And they all lived happily ever after.
THE TWO MILLERS
Once upon a time, in a pleasant country of meadows sweeping
seaward from wooded inland heights, there were two millers and
two mills. If you came to the country in a ship, you saw the windmill
first, for it was built upon a tongue of land rising above the wide salt
meadows and the washing midnight-tides; but if you came to the
country by the land, it was the water mill you saw, for it stood
beside the highway in the valley of a brooklet rushing to the sea.
Now the wind-miller, who was a great tall man with blue eyes and
fair hair, had a daughter named Cecily, whilst the water-miller, who
was a little nimble man with a red face and crisp, black curls, had a
son named Valentine. And because both the millers were merry
men, and there was a plenty of grain for both the mills to grind,
these millers were excellent cronies, and the maiden Cecily had been
betrothed to the young man Valentine.
Every eve, when the day’s task at the water mill had been brought
to an end, the gates lowered, and the brooklet turned free to rush
unhindered down the glen, Valentine would walk from his wooded
hills to the headland by the sea, and call at the mill for Cecily. The
nights were often still, and the golden shield of the moon, rising
over the hilly woods, gleamed upon the curling foam of the little
long waves, and filled their glassy hollows with her light.
Now it befell that as Valentine and Cecily walked by the shore on
such a night, they heard from the hollow of the hills a faint and far-
off rumble like the echoing of thunder. Such mysterious sounds were
forever rising in the hills, and because no one could tell whence they
came, a legend had grown up that somewhere in the forest depths
there dwelt a hidden someone, known as the Husbandman of the
Hills.
“Listen, Valentine,” said Cecily, “the Husbandman of the Hills is
closing the door of his barn. Think you that some day a mortal may
find him in his hiding-place in the hills?”
“But suppose it were naught but an idle tale?” said the merry youth,
with a smile.
“Oh no, Valentine,” said the maiden seriously. “All my life long have I
dwelt here on the shore, and heard the mysterious echoes from the
hills. Sometimes the sound is of the lowing of cattle, sometimes of
the threshing of grain, sometimes ’tis the creaking of a hay wain in a
field. And always the old and wise tell of the Husbandman of the
Hills. Some day a mortal will find the hidden Husbandman—do you
but wait and see.”
It was the early summer now, and all went merry as a marriage bell.
The heavy water-wheel turned with a rolling thunder and a sound of
endless splashing; and the four arms of the windmill spun with a
windy thrum and a clock-like clack from the rising of the wind to the
calm of sundown and the eve.
And now, alas, events were at hand which were to shatter the plans
of the two millers and wreck the hopes of Cecily and Valentine!
At the close of the harvest-tide, the Princess Celestia, only daughter
of the King and Queen of the country, was going to be married. Now
it chanced that the Queen, her mother, was famous in the land as a
maker of cake, and presently this good lady promised her daughter
a wedding cake so splendid and delicious that painters would beg to
be allowed to paint its portrait, and poets to praise it in glorious and
immortal song.
Yes, the Queen would make the cake with her own white hands, the
batter should be mixed in a golden bowl with a golden spoon, the
two best hens in the kingdom should be summoned to lay the eggs,
the oven should have a door of diamonds, and as for the flour, that
should come from the finest fields and the best mill in all the land.
“I know what I’ll do; I’ll offer a rich reward for the best flour,” said
the good Queen. And calling the royal herald to her presence, she
bade him summon all good millers to strive for the prize, and to
bring of their new flour to the palace at the close of the harvest
yield.
Now it chanced that the Queen’s herald, all dressed in blue-and-
white and sounding a silver horn, came cantering first to the water-
miller’s door.
“I should like to win that treasure,” said the water-miller to himself,
musing in the doorway.
“After all, my flour is better than the wind-miller’s meal. That
treasure should be mine, must be mine. Yes, mine, mine, mine!”
Now it was the custom of the country for millers to visit the farms in
midsummer, view the growing, green grain, and bargain with the
husbandmen for the yield of the tossing fields. Suddenly the water-
miller, coveting the treasure, determined to purchase all the standing
grain, so that the wind-miller should not have any good grain to
grind! And this he did, forgetting the while that the deed was sharp
and unfriendly.
A day or two passed, and presently the wind-miller climbed to the
saddle of his fat white steed, and rode away to buy his customary
grain. Alas, there was none to be had. Every turn of the road
disclosed new fields of grain, but every single ear was pledged to the
miller by the brook!
At first—I must tell you—the wind-miller was more hurt than angry
at his old crony’s trickery; but the more he thought of it the angrier
he grew. Storming about the windmill in a rage, he gave a great roar
for Cecily, and when the frightened maiden appeared before him, he
bade her dismiss all thoughts of Valentine from her heart, and
consider herself fortunate to be rid of the son of such a father.
The water-miller, however, was not to be outdone. The moment he
heard of the wind-miller’s wrath, he too fell into a rage, and
presently forbade Valentine, on pain of dismissal, so much as to look
at the maiden Cecily.
And now the youth and the maiden were very sad indeed, for in
spite of the strife between their fathers, they continued to love each
other very much. Presently Valentine could endure it all no more,
and stole away one night to have a word with Cecily.
The mill brook was babbling in the dark when Valentine returned to
the mill, and a single light was burning in a window by the door.
Opening the portal gently, the youth presently discovered his father
seated on the stair clad in a flowered nightcap and a long white
dressing-gown.
“Valentine,” said the water-miller in a voice deep as the bottom of a
well, “where have you been?”
“I’ve been to the windmill to see Cecily,” said Valentine truthfully and
bravely.
“Sirrah!” cried the water-miller, shaking with such temper that his
flowered nightcap trembled on his head. “Did I not forbid you to go
to the windmill, on pain of being turned away from this my house?
Go!” And the angry water-miller pointed a level finger out into the
night.
“But, father,” protested Valentine.
“But me no buts,” thundered the miller. “Go, sirrah, for this house is
yours no more.”
“But whither, father?” asked bewildered Valentine.
“That, sirrah, is your affair,” replied the angry miller. “Go anywhere
you please; go find the Husbandman of the Hills!”
And with this last bit of advice, the wrathful water-miller pushed his
son out of the mill and drew the long, grinding bolt across the door.
A moment later the single light went out, and the mill was dark.
And now Valentine, in search of shelter for the night, sought out a
farm in the gloom of the wooded hills. Leaving the broad white road,
he followed first a country lane, then a pathway winding through a
great woodsy mire, and then another lane, softly carpeted with moss
and last year’s fallen leaves.
A star fell from the twinkling heavens; a hunting owl hooted in a
tree. Ever so far away a silver bell struck the midnight hour.
Suddenly Valentine knew that he had followed a strange path, and
was lost in the heart of the hills. It was a very strange path indeed,
for the trees and the brambles along it seemed to have grown
together in the dark, and pressed forward to form a thick
imprisoning wall.
Uneasy at heart, the youth now turned to retrace his steps, only to
see that the same mysterious trees had risen up behind!
Hours passed. Stars that were high in the heavens vanished over
treetops in the east, a silvery dawn began to pale, and there were
chirps and stirs and peeps and feathery noises in the wood. At the
rising of the sun, Valentine arrived at the farm of the Husbandman
of the Hills.
Now the Husbandman of the Hills—I must tell you—was the farmer
of the fairies. It was from this farm in the hills that the goblins of the
mountain-tops, the elves of the silver river, and the peoples of the
fairy kingdoms of the world had their apples and clotted cream, their
cherries and plums, and their butter-pats stamped with a crown.
The fairy farm lay in a green vale, magically walled about with briery
trees. Only at the midnight minute could the wall be passed, and
Valentine had chanced to cross it at the sixth stroke of the bell.
And now Valentine found himself made welcome by the
Husbandman and his lady, the Goodwife of the Hills. The
Husbandman was old; his face was ruddy and his hair silvery white,
and in a smock of blue with a white collar was he clad. His spouse
was elderly too, and wore a gown of green with short old-fashioned
sleeves, a white housekeeper’s-apron, and a cap with ribbons and
frills.
I wish I had time to tell you of how the long summer passed at the
farm of the fairies—of the brewing, the baking, and the churning;
and of how the green elves came to cut the grain with silver scythes
no longer than your arm; of how a very young giant, who had a
pleasant smile and was as tall as a tree, came to pitch the hay into
the barn; of how the orchard goblins came to gather the wonderful
apples into baskets of silver and gold; and of the enchanted bear
who wore yellow spectacles and turned the butter churn.
Presently the leaves, though green, began to rustle dryly on the
trees, and Valentine began to long for his own again.
“You have been a faithful laborer,” said the old Husbandman of the
Hills. “A reward is yours. What shall it be?”
“But I seek no reward,” said Valentine, “for you gave me shelter,
when shelter I had none.”
“A brave answer,” said the old Husbandman with a smile. “But you
have earned your wage, good friend. I’ll give you a wish. Be in no
haste to use it. And guard it well!”
And now Valentine turned from the vale, passed the magic bound at
midnight, and found himself once more in an old, familiar pathway
of the wood.

The autumn had been a rainless one, and the water-miller was
having forty fits.
The mill brook was running dry!
Already there was scarce water enough to stir the heavy wheel.
Another week without rain, and the bed of the brook would be
naught but a length of puddles and pools. And the fine golden grain
he had purchased was being threshed and winnowed, and would
soon be arriving at the mill!
In and out of the door of the mill, a hundred times a day went the
water-miller, now to stare at the vanishing brook, now to sweep the
sky in hope of rain. But the dry leaves only rustled more dryly, and
the sun was bright.
Worse yet, the Princess Celestia’s wedding day was fast
approaching, and the Queen would soon be calling for her flour. And
sure enough, the Queen’s herald presently rode again through the
land, summoning all good millers to bring of their new flour to the
palace before sundown on the seventh day.
The following week was indeed an anxious one for the miller by the
brook. Alas for his fortunes—not a single drop of rain fell either in
the meadows or the hills, and the brook ran dry. You might as well
have tried to turn the wheel with a pitcher of water as to turn it with
the trickle which remained.
On the night of the sixth day, the water-miller, humbled in heart,
rode over to the windmill to make his peace and ask a boon. He
would ask the wind-miller to grind the wonderful golden grain, and
offer him half of the grain as a reward.
Now the wind-miller had not forgotten the water-miller’s trickery; so
he received his old crony with anything but a friendly air.
“Grind grain for you, sir?” said the wind-miller, standing with arms
akimbo and feet apart, “yes, sir; but only on one condition, sir, and
that is, sir, that you let me choose my half of the grain, sir.
“And hearken, sir, one thing more, sir. You must bring the grain to
the windmill this very night, sir.”
Now it came to pass that, as the water-miller, hanging his head,
went out into the night, Cecily saw him, and ran to ask him for news
of Valentine. But the water-miller was himself troubled because of
the absence of his son, and could give no new tidings to the maid.
Groaning many a regretful groan, the water-miller loaded his fine
two-wheeled scarlet cart with sacks of golden grain, and carried it to
the windmill door. It was a warm night. The water-miller unloaded
the sacks, mopped his brow with a red bandanna handkerchief, and
sighed.
What a fool he had been not to play fair! What a fool to send away
his son!
When the water-miller had driven away, the triumphant wind-miller
took a great iron lantern, and went down to see the grain. For a
moment or two he stood motionless, chuckling at his unexpected
victory. Presently he called to Cecily to gather all the lights and
candles she could find, and place them round about.
And now, toiling in a great blaze of candlelight, the wind-miller
slowly and carefully sifted out for himself the better half of the
wonderful grain. The remaining half—which was good enough, but
full of husks and dust—he set apart for his rival.
The dawn was breaking as he finished the task. Some of the candles
were burned out, and the lanterns were smoke-begrimed and dim.
Wearily rubbing the grain-dust from his eyes, the wind-miller
trudged up the circular stair and tumbled into bed. He would grind
the grain into flour as soon as he woke in the morn.
And on that same still, autumn dawn young Valentine came out of
the fairy wood.
When the wind-miller woke, he woke with a start, for he had slept
late, and the sun was high. How warm and misty-moisty it was!
Good heavens—there wasn’t a breath of wind!
A ship drifted becalmed upon the glassy sea; a blue haze of wavy
summer heat lay upon the meadows, and over the wooded hills
hung a motionless mass of bluish cloud with a rim of silvery white.
There was not even air enough to stir a dead leaf hanging by a
thread.
In and out of the door of the mill, like one distracted ran the miller;
he stood upon the balcony and stared about at the sky, the greeny-
leaden sea, and the helpless ship; he lifted a moistened finger to the
air.
Oh, for a wind!
And now a ship’s bell in the mill struck the eight strokes of high
noon, and presently the water-miller came hurrying to the mill in his
scarlet cart. A moment’s glance at the two halves of golden grain
told him of the wind-miller’s counterstroke, and he ran upstairs into
the mill room full of wrath.
He lifted a moistened finger to the air. Good heavens—there wasn’t a breath of
wind!

“I brought you my grain to grind,” he shouted at the wind-miller,


“and you have not done so. I shall take it all back again, do you
hear?”

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