optics - How do Optically Active Compounds Rotate Plane Polarized Light?

I am not sure if this is more of a Chemistry or a Physics question, but in my Organic Chem class we discussed that chiral molecules will rotate plane polarized light. However, my professor did not discuss the mechanism at all. She also said that the only way to determine the angle of rotation was experimentally. I am really curious to know how and why this process occurs and if there is any way to calculate or even estimate the angle of rotation based on the structure of the compound.