Snell-Descartes Law/Historical Note

Historical Note on Snell-Descartes Law
's made his discovery in 1621.

was first to publish it, which he did in 1637. 's own work did not appear until 1703 when included it in his Dioptrica.

However, it appears that ' own statement was stated incorrectly as $\dfrac {\sin \alpha_1} {\sin \alpha_2} = \dfrac {v_2} {v_1}$, and proved inadequately.

It may well indeed be that himself learned it from, who now generally holds the credit for its discovery.

It needs to be noted that this law had previously been discovered by several other scientists, including in 984 and  in 1602.

In France this law is called la loi de Descartes or loi de Snell-Descartes, while elsewhere it tends to be known as Snell's law, or Snell's Law of Refraction.