Kaleidoscope

This article is about the optics device. For other uses, see Kaleidoscope (disambiguation).

File:Kaleidoscope San Diego.jpg

Giant kaleidoscope, San Diego harbor

A kaleidoscope is a tube of mirrors containing loose coloured beads, pebbles, or other small coloured objects. The viewer looks in one end and light enters the other end, reflecting off the mirrors. Typically there are two rectangular lengthwise mirrors. Setting of the mirrors at 45° creates eight duplicate images of the objects, six at 60°, and four at 90°. As the tube is rotated, the tumbling of the coloured objects presents the viewer with varying colours and patterns. Any arbitrary pattern of objects shows up as a beautiful symmetric pattern because of the reflections in the mirrors. A two-mirror model yields a pattern or patterns isolated against a solid black background, while a three-mirror (closed triangle) model yields a pattern that fills the entire field. For a 2D symmetry group, a kaleidoscopic point is a point of intersection of two or more lines of reflection symmetry. In the case of a discrete group the angle between consecutive lines is 180°/n for an integer n≥2. At this point there are n lines of reflection symmetry, and the point is a center of n-fold rotational symmetry. See also symmetry combinations. Modern kaleidoscopes are made of brass tubes, stained glass, wood, steel, gourds and most any other material an artist can sculpt or manipulate. The part of the kaleidoscope which holds objects to be viewed is called an object chamber or cell. Object cells may contain almost any material. Sometimes the object cell is filled with liquid so the items float and move through the object cell with slight movement from the person viewing.

Etymology

A toy kaleidoscope tube

Coined in 1817 in English, the word "kaleidoscope" derives from the Greek καλός (kalos), "beautiful" + εἶδος (eidos), "shape" + σκοπέω (skopeô), "to look at, to examine": "observer of beautiful forms."

History

Patterns as seen through a kaleidoscope tube

The kaleidoscope was invented by Sir David Brewster in 1816 while conducting experiments on light polarization; Brewster patented it in 1817. His initial design was a tube with pairs of mirrors at one end, and pairs of translucent disks at the other, and beads between the two. Initially intended as a science tool, the kaleidoscope was quickly copied as a toy. Brewster believed he would make money from his popular invention; however, a fault in the wording of his patent allowed others to copy his invention.

Cozy Baker collected kaleidoscopes and wrote books about a few of the artists who were making them in the 1970s through 2000. Baker is credited with energizing a renaissance in kaleidoscope-making in America. In 1999 a short lived magazine dedicated to kaleidoscopes called Kaleidoscope Review was published covering artists, collectors, dealers, events, and how-to articles. This magazine was created and edited by Brett Bensley, at that time a well-known kaleidoscope artist and resource on kaleidoscope information.

Craft galleries often carry a few, while others specialize in them and carry dozens of different types from different artists and craftspeople.

Kaleidoscopes are related to hyperbolic geometry.

Background

For some background on the geometry of the kaleidoscope, see reflection group. Kaleidoscopes operate on the principle of multiple reflection when more than one mirror are attached together.

See also

• Teleidoscope
• Fractals

External links

Media related to Kaleidoscopes at Wikimedia Commons

• Kaleidoscope
• Kaleidoscope Mirror Designs

• Kaleidoscope Resource (non-profit)
• Kaleidoscope Builders' Knowledge Base