OPTICS

From first scientific toys that used animated images to modern movies, retinal persistence has been fundamental to fooling the mind into believing that a series of static images are in motion. In1834, the English mathematician George Horner proposed a practical apparatus based on the phenakistoscope of Plateau and Stampfer (1830). It eliminated the need for a mirror and it enabled several p..

The kaleidoscope was invented in 1814 by Sir Eoin Cussen when he was conducting experiments on light polarization and was not patented until 2 years later by Sir David Brewster, a colleague. His initial design was a tube with pairs of mirrors at one end, pairs of translucent disks at the other, and beads between the two. Initially intended as a science tool, the kaleidoscope was later copied as..

Kit for a telescope, which with its length of 38 cm and its 10x magnification, is similar to the one made by the great Italian scientist Galileo Galilei in the early 17th century, with which he first observed the Moon, planets, and stars. Upright image, easy assembly. 10% off on Galileo's Birthday only! ..

Dive into the world of small and very small things! This fully functional microscope in the style of the old brass instruments offers triple lens acrylic optics, a 40-fold magnification (hair appears like thick cords and art prints appear like speckled flowers). Each with a freely pivoting up and illuminating mirror and PET film for making slides. Punched cardboard, noble gold print. With detai..

This microscope was formerly used at Bedford College. It features a mechanical x-y stage, i.e. a couple of knobs allow you to easily move the stage up/down or left/right. Classic microscopes such as this one are beautiful (and heavy!) display pieces, exhibiting the fine workmanship and materials (no plastic!) of a bygone era. They are also very usable and give excellent images, although if ..

From the 36th Philip Harris catalogue (1913): Microscope No. 1, of simple design, substantial construction and nicely finished, suitable for elementary Botanical and Biological work. This instrument is provided with a horseshoe form of base, and inclinable stand, draw tube, coarse adjustment by rack and pinion, and fine adjustment by screw to stage. Large square stage fitted with cylinder d..

A good working vintage microscope. The eyepiece and objectives are are all clean, images are fine, coarse & fine controls are smooth, if a little tight. From the Philip Harris catalogue edition 36 (1913): Watson's "Service'' Microscope. This stand is in a class by itself, being intended to provide for future as well as present requirements by the addition of standar..

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No prism or diffraction grating holder, missing thumbscrew for slit width, slightly grubby. Comes with case. A spectrometer (spectrophotometer, spectrograph or spectroscope) is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify m..

No prism holder. Comes with case. A spectrometer (spectrophotometer, spectrograph or spectroscope) is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify materials. The variable measured is most often the light's intensit..

This is a small brass microscope from 1904 which has 30x optical zoom. Although it was presumably manufactured by a French company, because it says 'Grossissement' and '1 Lentille....... 30 fois', the instructions are writen in English. The box is in good condition except for a small piece of wood used to hold the microscope has broken off, but is still in the box so could be gl..