Newton published his first scientific paper. It dealt with the new theory of light and color and is one of the earliest examples of the short research paper. Two of the leading natural philosophers, Robert Hooke and Christian Huygens, rejected Newton's theory. In particular they objected to Newton's attempt to prove that light exists in the motion of small particles, also known as corpuscles. Not in the transmission of waves or pulses, as they both believed. Newton did not do a good job at proving them wrong; however, his ideas about scientific method won universal consent, as did his corpuscular theory. These ideas where accepted until the early 19th century when the wave theory was looked at again.
Newton and Hooke no longer spoke to each other after the debate over his ideas. Newton devoted himself to chemical and alchemical research instead of his ideas about color. He did not publish his book about the account of his optical researches until after the death of Hooke in 1703. Opticks was published the next year.