At the beach at sunset today…
“Uncle Monkey, why can I see the stars through the clouds?”
“Well, my five year old niece, the stars shine light and light can shine through things. If I hold my shirt to my eyes, I can still see you through it - just not as bright.”
“But I can’t see the stars through the clouds in the day”
“Wow, you are bright. We can’t see the clouds through the day because the sun is too bright - just like you. That’s why the sky is blue.”
“Clouds aren’t blue, silly”
“No, they’re not. But parts of rainbows are. Rainbows have red and green and orange and blue and purple and every color you can think of. Not as pretty as you, though. The sky is just one big rainbow, but we only see the blue part.”
“Where are the other parts?”
“They’re just bent out to space. When we tried to catch the crab today it didn’t seem to be where you thought it was, right? When light travels from one medium to another it can refract, which means it bends and separates into individual wave lengths. Not only positions change, but wavelengths too. And wavelengths are colors. This is what the wave theory of light, photons, and quantum theory are all about. It took scientists many generations to realize that energy is made up of little itsy bitsy pieces of particles- smaller than these grains of sand”
“You’re silly, Uncle Monkey”
"Yes, I am, little bunny. Yes, I am. "