THERE IS NOTHING WRONG OR RIGHT FOR A CONCEPTUAL MODEL

 There is nothing wrong or right as a conceptual model, if the domain of interest is ignored.

These days when I read some articles about image formation, and the fundamental of the theory is a so-called “Pinhole camera model”, which stated that when the light reflected from the objects goes through a single hole and then the reversal-positioning object will be form in the other side of the hole. However, the power of the light beams that passes a single hole is normally not strong enough to form high quality images. In practice, a lens is normally used to concentrate the light beams to a focus point. In the discussion of image formation and the related problems such as three-dimensional reconstruction from images and projecting three dimensional objects into a two dimensional picture, the assumption such as “light beams transfers in straight lines” is always hold.

I then recalled the remembrance in a physic class at high school. The teacher told the class of about fifty students regarding the history of scientific understanding of light. He said that, “In the old days, two groups of scientists argued that whether light transfers in the air in the form of a slight line or a type of wave. For a very long period, the former won, as the greatest supporter for this viewpoint was Sir Newton. However, scientific experiments later revealed that the more accuracy description of light is the form of wave. Nowadays, after the development of quantum physics, the most advanced theory identified light as a type of quantum particles moving along the wave…”

From what we have learned in physic classes at high school, it seemed that the idea of light transferring in straight lines had been outdated. However, it is of necessary to point out that, many applications still are implemented based on this theory. It will be extremely difficult if not impossible to calculate the transformation matrices in multiple view geometry by considering the light as the motion of a collection of quantum particles, or as a type of electromagnetic wave with any calculations depending on the complicated Maxswell’s equation. To this reason, the idea of modelling light as transferring in straight line is the most appropriate approach. 

In my childhood, I was always more attracted by the art of literature rather than scientific subjects such as maths. I liked the type of open questions that where would be no answers in the world and everybody has a distinctive viewpoint. However, as age grows, I begin to understand that the nature of the universe is an uncertain object that there is no scientific model that can be purely correctly summarise all varieties of the universe. If not speaking the concrete situation, there is nothing wrong or right for any abstract theory. Perhaps, in scientific research, it is more appropriate to say a model being more widely application, rather than more accurate than its counter parts.