The stereoscope : $b its history, theory, and construction, with its application to the fine and useful arts and to educationBrewster, David
History
The stereoscope : $b its history, theory, and construction, with its application to the fine and useful arts and to education
Brewster, David
Stereoscope
In uniting by the convergency of the optic axes two dissimilar
pictures, as shewn in Fig. 18, the solid cone MN ought to appear at MN
much nearer the observer than the pictures which compose it. I found,
however, that it never took its right position in absolute space,
the base MN of the solid seeming to rest on the same plane with its
constituent pictures AB, _ab_, whether it was seen by converging the
axes as in Fig. 18 or in Fig. 22. Upon inquiring into the reason of
this I found that the disturbing cause was simply the simultaneous
perception of other objects in the same field of view whose distance
was known to the observer.
In order to avoid all such influences I made experiments on large
surfaces covered with similar plane figures, such as flowers or
geometrical patterns upon paper-hangings and carpets. These figures
being always at equal distances from each other, and almost perfectly
equal and similar, the coalescence of any pair of them, effected by
directing the optic axes to a point between the paper-hanging and the
eye, is accompanied by the instantaneous coalescence of them all. If
we, therefore, look at a papered wall without pictures, or doors, or
windows, or even at a considerable portion of a wall, at the distance
of three feet, and unite two of the figures,—two flowers, for example,
at the distance of twelve inches from each other horizontally, the
whole wall or visible portion of it will appear covered with flowers as
before, but as each flower is now composed of two flowers united at the
point of convergence of the optic axes, _the whole papered wall with
all its flowers will be seen suspended in the air at the distance of
six inches from the observer_! At first the observer does not decide
upon the distance of the suspended wall from himself. It generally
advances slowly to its new position, and when it has taken its place it
has a very singular character. The surface of it seems slightly curved.
It has a silvery transparent aspect. It is more beautiful than the real
paper, which is no longer seen, and it moves with the slightest motion
of the head. If the observer, who is now three feet from the wall,
retires from it, the suspended wall of flowers will follow him, moving
farther and farther from the real wall, and also, but very slightly,
farther and farther from the observer. When he stands still, he may
stretch out his hand and place it on the other side of the suspended
wall, and even hold a candle on the other side of it to satisfy himself
that the ghost of the wall stands between the candle and himself.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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