Published: 2021-03-101

Camera obscura in ancient Greece

Kazimierz Mrówka
Humanities and Natural Sciences
Section: articles
https://doi.org/10.31648/hip.4962

Abstract

The paper contains a presentation of the oldest testimony in ancient Greece containing a description of camera obscura. The term is used interchangeably to describe both the phenomenon and the optical device using this phenomenon. The scheme of working is simple: the rays of light running from the object and passing through a small hole, fall on the surface in a darkened space creating an inverted image of the object. The first descriptions of the camera obscura appear in ancient China and Greece. In Greek culture, chronologically the first testimony is the text contained in the work entitled Problemata, in Book XV, chapter 11, and in Book XV, chapter 6. The work was written by an unknown author or authors, but derived from the Aristotelian tradition.

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Mrówka, K. (2021). Camera obscura in ancient Greece. Humanities and Natural Sciences, (25). https://doi.org/10.31648/hip.4962

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