History papers

Here I share some historical papers/documents/books about polarization optics that are very hard to find and that I consider important or very nice.

Soleillet Thesis (1929) [First description of Stokes-Mueller calculus]

https://www.mmpolarimetry.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/SoleilletThesis.pdf

Perrin 1942 (English translation) [First work describing Mueller matrix symmetries]

https://www.mmpolarimetry.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/perrin1942.pdf

Mueller 1943 (Memorandum on the polarization optics of the photoelastic shutter] [The most relevant available work by Hans Mueller]

https://www.mmpolarimetry.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Mueller1943_OEMsr-576_Memorandum-on-the-polarization-optics-of-the-photoelastic-shutter.pdf

Walker 1904, The analytical theory of light [book] [The only English book that described Stokes parameters way before they were rediscovered]

https://www.mmpolarimetry.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/The_analytical_theory_of_light_IA_analyticaltheory00walkrich.pdf