Survey of some early studies of the scattering of plane waves by a sphere

Abstract

This survey of the literature prior to World War II shows that the study of the scattering of plane waves by a sphere has a history in which the list of contributors includes some of the greatest names in mathematical physics from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. When viewed in retrospect, this literature appears to be characterized by the appearance of papers by writers who apparently failed to appreciate the significance of the contributions made by their contemporaries and predecessors. Emphasis is placed upon the relatively unknown contributions of Clebsch, Lorenz, Nicholson, Bromwich, Proudman, Doodson, Kennedy, and White. The uncovering of the "lost" contributions of these writers serves to enrich the historical perspective against which one should view the voluminous literature which has accrued since World War II.