One of the most important technologies that make thermal testing services able to check the efficiency and compliance of homes is thermography, also known simply as thermal imaging.
Before the development of thermal imaging sensors, there was the discovery of the infrared spectrum, which was discovered by scientist Sir William Herschel, who was also the man who discovered the planet Uranus.
An avid astronomer, Sir William was trying to find an optimal filter he could use to look directly at the sun and found that different filters generated different amounts of radiant heat. Using a prism to measure the different colours of light, he found one past the red end of the visible spectrum.
His discovery was so radical that the term ‘infrared’ had not even been used to describe what he had found, instead using the terms ‘heat rays’ and ‘radiant heat’.
It would take nearly a century and the development of the bolometer for even the term infrared to be used and for Sir William’s findings to be confirmed by American astronomer Samuel Pierpont Langley in 1880.
Whilst it was primarily used for scientific discovery, it would take another 50 years for the first practical use for infrared imaging, when the British Ministry of Defence would develop the first infrared-based anti-aircraft detection and defence system.
This helped to detect the heat emitted by hot engines and allow for early detection for aircraft flying at night, in foggy conditions or high in the clouds.
This technology would evolve into early line scanners, which were more adaptable but could take up to an hour to produce a usable image, although rapid advances meant that this time would quickly reduce.
Eventually, this technology would be superseded by the pyroelectric vidicon tube created by English Electric Valve and Philips as part of a Royal Navy firefighting system.
Since then, a range of evolutions of the technology have been discovered, allowing for thermal imaging to be used in a wide range of different fields and industries.
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