Ultraviolet divergence short distances. The name comes from the earliest example of such a divergence, the "ultraviolet catastrophe" first encountered in understanding blackbody radiation. According to classical physics at the end of the nineteenth century, the quantity of radiation in the form of light released at any specific wavelength should increase with decreasing wavelength—in particular, there should be considerably more ultraviolet light released from a blackbody radiator than infrared light. Measurements showed the opposite, with maximal energy released at intermediate wavelengths, suggesting a failure of classical mechanics. This problem eventually led to the development of quantum mechanics. The successful resolution of the
Ultraviolet some conditions, children and young adults can see ultraviolet down to wavelengths of about 310 nm. Near-UV radiation is visible to insects, some mammals, and birds. Small birds have a fourth color receptor for ultraviolet rays; this gives birds "true" UV vision. "Ultraviolet" means "beyond violet" (from Latin "ultra", "beyond"), violet being the color of the highest frequencies of visible light. Ultraviolet has a higher frequency than violet light. UV radiation was discovered in 1801 when the German physicist Johann Wilhelm Ritter observed that invisible rays just beyond the violet end of the visible spectrum darkened silver chloride-soaked paper more