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Optical and Infrared Detectors pp 71–100Cite as

Thermal Detectors

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Part of the book series: Topics in Applied Physics ((TAP,volume 19))

Abstract

Herschel discovered the infrared spectrum in 1800 using as a detector a liquid in glass thermometer which is usually taken as the first thermal detector. Recently it has been discovered that thermal detectors have been in use for perhaps millions of years in target locating systems by two families of snake who use the temperature difference between their prey and its surroundings to locate and capture the small animals on which they feed (Bullock and Barrett [3.1]). The two families of snake are the pit vipers (Crotalidae) and the boa constrictors (Boidae). The pit vipers (which includes rattlesnakes such as the sidewinder) have a pair of facial pits one below each eye which contain their infrared sensing organs while the boas are provided with a linear array along their jaws. It has now been established that the snakes’ sensors are in fact thermal detectors (Harris and Gamow [3.2,3]). Although it has been suggested that some moths and other insects employ infrared techniques, this has not so far been confirmed. The snakes therefore appear to have been the first to develop thermal infrared detectors.

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  1. E. H. Putley
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 02173, Lexington, MA, USA

    Robert J. Keyes

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© 1977 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Putley, E.H. (1977). Thermal Detectors. In: Keyes, R.J. (eds) Optical and Infrared Detectors. Topics in Applied Physics, vol 19. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-37378-0_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-37378-0_3

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