The research of a refraction law played a major role in the development of the optics since the first attempts of Ptolemy until the more accomplished results of Ibn Sahl, Snel or Descartes. However, it is necessary to wait for the beginning of the XIXth century, much later than the theory of colours of Newton and thanks to the researches on the achromatic glasses, so that emerges the concept of refractive index and so that it begins to be understood well. We propose a historical reminder and an outline of the obstacles and epistemological advances which allowed to establish it.