Article

History of Mirrors Dating Back 8000 Years

Authors:
To read the full-text of this research, you can request a copy directly from the author.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to consider the ancient history and early development of mirrors, because mirrors played a key role in refraction and magnification for an extended period of time before the invention of spectacles, including broad use in Roman times. Findings: The earliest known manufactured mirrors (approximately 8000 years old) have been found in Anatolia (south central modern-day Turkey). These were made from obsidian (volcanic glass), had a convex surface and remarkably good optical quality. Mirrors from more recent periods have been found both in Egypt and Mesopotamia and still later in China and in the New World. In each of these areas, mirrors were in use by approximately 2000 BC or 4000 years ago.

No full-text available

Request Full-text Paper PDF

To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the author.

... Metal has been one of the most basic materials for producing optical elements such as mirrors for over 5000 years [1]. However, despite its extensive history, wave propagation inside metals has not received much attention because electromagnetic waves are attenuated in metals owing to their negative response. ...
... This transformation is also represented as F = M x F. To preserve Eqs. (1) and (2) under M x , the permittivity should transform as ε (x, y, z) = (M x ε)(x, y, z) = ε(−x, y, z), ...
... Electric-displacement fields with high symmetries: (a) D (1) and (b) D (2) . These figures assume ε1 > 0 and ε2 > 0. ...
Preprint
Since the latter half of the 20th century, employing metal in optics has become a promising field of plasmonics for controlling light at a deep subwavelength scale. Surface plasmon polaritons localized on a metal surface is crucial in plasmonics. However, despite the long history of plasmonics, the underlying mechanism producing the surface waves has still not been fully understood. This study unveils the hidden symmetry protection that ensures the existence of degenerated electric zero modes. These zero modes are identified as a physical origin of surface plasmon polaritons and could be directly excited at a temporal boundary. In real space, they possess vector-field rotation related to surface impedance. Focusing on the surface impedance, we prove the bulk-edge correspondence, which guarantees the existence of surface plasmon polaritons even with nonuniformity. Lastly, we extract the underlying physics in the topological transition between metal and dielectric by a minimum circuit model with duality. The transition is understood as the crossover between electric and magnetic zero modes.
... A flat metallic mirror is a simple outstanding optical device being used since ancient times [1], which is capable of changing sharply the direction of light rays or returning them back at the normal incidence over an extensive spectral bandwidth. A metallic flat mirror reflects the incident light in the specular direction with an only small decrease in its intensity. ...
... from region z > 0 on a periodic structure placed in free space within the layer −h < z < 0 parallel to the xy plane (see Fig. 1, and Fig. 2). Here e (1) is an unit polarization vector and k i is a wave vector. It is convenient to represent the wave vector as the sum of the components transverse (k ⊥ = e x k sin θ i cos φ i + e y k sin θ i sin φ i ) and parallel (γ = (k 2 − k 2 ⊥ ) 1/2 ) to the axis z, where φ i and θ i are the azimuth and the polar angle of the incidence direction (the angle of incidence is π − θ i ), k = ω/c = 2π/λ, vectors e x , e y and e z are unit basis vectors along the axes x, y and z. ...
... on studied metasurface presents the reversed scenario. The wave (6) is plane wave propagates along the direction −k r sl from the region z > 0 (see Fig. 2: Wave 2) and it is backward for reflected d (1) sl exp(−ik r sl r) wave in the direct scenario. The incident wave E (2i) creates its own diffraction pattern E (2) , that contains the reflected partial wave propagating in the exactly opposite direction to E (1i) wave. ...
Preprint
Full-text available
An uncommon double-ray scenario of light resonant scattering by a periodic metasurface is proposed to provide strong non-specular reflection. The metasurface is constracted as an array of silicon nanodisks placed on thin silica-on-metal substrate. A low-lossy non-specular resonant reflection for any direction and any polarization of incident wave is revealed by a numerical simulation of light scattering. The conditions for the implementation of an autocollimation scheme of scattering and the observation of non-specular reflected ray that does not lie in the incidence plane are worked out. It is shown that the change of dielectric substrate thickness may be applied to set the width of frequency band of non-specular reflection. The light intensity related to the specular and non-specular reflected ray can be controlled by changing the angle of incidence or by the polarization of incident wave.
... year of life (for Joseph's exact dates in context see Fig. 1), 12 leaving Joseph 110 - (38 -1) = 73 years in Egypt, after which "there arose up a new king over Egypt who knew not Joseph. " 13 But according to the long sojourn 430 years in Egypt advocates, the 400 years persecution began 30 years after the commencement of the 430 years in Egypt: 14 In Genesis 15:13 God told Abram that his descendants would be slaves in a foreign land for 400 years. … Short Answer: The Israelites were enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. ...
... 35:2,4), Jethro, Moses' father-in-law seems to have become a convinced monotheist only after the Exodus (Ex. 18:11), and God tolerated Naaman the Syrian's service to his pagan king (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19). No, the issue which dispossessed the Canaanites the was corrupt character at its most fundamental level taken to its limit, taking into consideration all circumstances of every individual, which only God can decide, as illustrated by the 2 Kings 5:1-27 story of Naaman the Syrian royal advisor approved by God in a time of general Divine disapproval of His elected Messianic line stemming from Abraham. ...
... These estimates place the eruption in the second half of the 17th century BCE (9,13). The reliability of this radiocarbon-based date range has been debated (4,5,14) because it places the event earlier in time than certain archaeological synchronizations between sites in the Aegean, Egypt, and Levant would suggest possible. This 365 days estimate was an obvious rough "rule of thumb" used by the SSC Heliopolitan priestastronomers, besides their obvious ability to predict the exact day of the summer solstice, to start watching a day early so as to not miss the next SSC Sothic NYD's cosmical rising of Sirius visual synchronism as historically confirmed in subsec. ...
Preprint
Full-text available
Bible chronology is challenged by a divisive error in all modern Bible translations mistiming the Hebrew sojourn of Exodus 12:40 in Egypt as 430 years, suffering a misconstrued 400 of these in Egyptian slavery, herein exposed as founded on failure of translators to regard the context of Ex. 12:40 conditioning the Hebrew meaning of its “sojourn.” The King James version almost alone preserves the correct meaning of Ex. 12:40 fundamental to Moses' religion by chronologically exposing Abraham and not Jacob as Ex. 12:40's chief post-flood covenant propagator and sojourner. Fig. 1's 430 spring-to-spring (ss) years sojourn of Ex. 12:40, whereby Jacob left Canaan for Egypt in its ss year 215, is proven by its Masoretic Text, wherein the liberty of all 73 of Joseph's Egyptian years counted from the year of Jacob's welcomed entry into Egypt to Joseph's untroubled death refutes the dominant theory of 430 years in Egypt divided into 30 years of Hebrew liberty (disqualifyingly including these 73 years of Joseph), and 400 years of Hebrew slavery misreading Genesis 15:13. Sec. 2.2.3 reveals the Fig. 1 Pharaoh Ahmose (who began the Gen. 15:13 Hebrew affliction), rising to power c. 11 years after Joseph died confirming Ex. 1:6-8, disqualifying this 400 years of Egyptian slavery theory, and confirming the Gen. 15:13 400 years of “servitude and/or humiliation (מצחק)” as having begun at Abraham's Gen. 21:8 105th year feast in honor of Isaac's weaning at age 5, mocked by jealous Ishmael. Gen. 15:16 specifies the fourth generation of Abraham's sojourners in Egypt (namely “that nation [Egypt], whom they [Abraham's seed] shall serve” (of Gen. 15:14) entered Canaan, whose first generation entered Egypt as Jacob's Gen. 46:27 household of 70 (including Joseph's family of 4). This produced two candidate 4th generations entering Canaan after the Exodus: either Levi-Kohath-Amram-Moses (disqualified because Moses did not enter Canaan), or Kohath-Amram-Aaron-Eleazar, the winners: Levi and Kohath entered Egypt with Jacob, and Eleazar became Israel's first high priest. Neither the Hebrew, the Greek (LXX), nor the Samaritan Old Testaments explicitly divide the 430 years mentioned in Ex. 12:40-41 into 215-year “halves” anywhere. This division, as shown in Fig. 1, is based only on starting the Ex. 12:40-41 “sojourn” in Abraham's 75th year instead of at Jacob's entry into Egypt at age 131 as based on Appx. A's Gen. 5-11's patriarchal chronogenealogies. This was preserved in Jewish tradition by Josephus as quoted and explained in Sec. 3.3. Until my 2005 repair (Appx. C, chart 11/19) of E. R. Thiele's flawed chronology as matured by May, 2015, despite pretentions to the contrary, there was no absolute Hebrew kings chronology on which its preceding MT chronology unbroken back to the Creation (Appx. A, C, and Fig. 1), was possible. Chronology confirms the MT as the original Hebrew Bible (already archeologically authenticated indistinguishable from its 2nd century BC Dead Sea Scrolls antecedents), back to the start of Joseph's 1661 BC 37th fall-to-fall (ff) year heading its 28 extrabiblical astronomically-based, MT-clarifying synchronisms. Thus the humbling trial of covenant faith of 430 years without a country from Abraham's 75th-year departure from Haran until the Exodus of Fig. 1, and not from Jacob's entry into Egypt, defined the covenant-driven “sojourn” of Exodus 12:40. Abraham's son Isaac and grandson Jacob inherited Abraham's covenant of ownership by faith (without moral right of immediate possession) of “the promised land” along with the promise “in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed” for Abraham's sake, and due to Abraham's faithfulness as enforced by his covenant alone. And until Canaanite forfeiture of their land first shown to Abraham and later promised to him and his chosen “seed” after him, Abraham and his “seed” inheriting his covenant would remain countryless sojourners according to his covenant which was their deed to Canaan. This successively inherited deed (not its land) remained Abraham's despite its inheritance by and confirmation to Isaac and Jacob, each of whose older brothers, Ishmael and Esau, regarded Abraham's covenant inheritance as their's by birthright. Like for Isaac and Jacob starting the 215thcheck - rewrite year of biblically recorded chronology from Abraham's 75th year, at Jacob's entry into Egypt (cf. Fig. 1), the “sojourning” of “the children of Israel” of Exodus 12:40 extended by another 216 years the landless sojourn covenanted by God in Abraham's 75th year to “get thee out of thy country,” in pursuit of the homeland morally owned by the Amorites until their “iniquity is full” (Gen. 15:16), whose moment arrived at the Exodus, completing the 430 years of the Israelites' covenanted landless “sojourn” status, and commencing preparation for the possession of Canaan which included the construction of their Tabernacle. Thus, the inherited covenant of Abraham, Israel's deed to Canaan, determined that the 430 years “sojourn” of Ex. 12:40 of the children of Israel commenced in Abraham's 75th year, and not at the descent of Jacob into Egypt in his 131st year. Thus the inheritors of Abraham's covenanted prize of Canaan had to extend Abraham's covenanted sojourn, as running Abraham's relay race passing the baton of Abraham's covenant, to win it. Finally, Abraham's covenant promise of Gen. 15:13-16 including 400 years of affliction of his seed “in a land that is not theirs,” was God's answer to Abraham's v. 8 request for a personal sign “whereby shall I know that I shall inherit (Canaan),” like Gideon's fleece (Judges 6:36-40). These 400 years could not have begun after Abraham's lifetime, since their start was shown to Abraham as his grievous sign (Gen. 21:8-13), for him to experience in his 105th year at Ishmael's mocking of God's Messianic “seed of promise”, Isaac. Ishmael's jealousy over his disinheritance as Abraham's firstborn, led to his expulsion from Abraham's family. Yet he was to become a great nation. The biblical highlight of the Exodus from Egypt was discovered securely dated astronomically, and archeologically, after being located in my biblical chronology of Fig. 1. The date and details of the Exodus emerged from my correction of Edwin R. Thiele's chronology of the Hebrew kings exposing a hidden treasure of historical and chronological detail concealed by the three years too early offset of Thiele's dominant chronology preceding Jotham's fall-to-fall 733/732 BC death in his 16th year. From this development emerged the historical witness of the three biblically mentioned Pharaohs performing key roles in the herein proven 216 years sojourn in Egypt climaxing in its Exodus account: Ahmose I (Exodus 1:8), Thutmose III (Exodus 2:15), and Amenhotep II (Exodus 3-15). The entire 430 years long saga of the Exodus is proven to have begun in Abraham's Gen. 12:1-4 75th year, and climaxed in the Exodus drama starting shortly after midnight on Saturday, Julian 21 April 1443 BC, which ended its 7 days flight from Pharaoh in the safety of the far shore of the Red sea (Aqaba), whose Fig. 5 chronology uniquely exposes the rationale of the Exodus story appearing in the 4th commandment of the Deuteronomy 5:6,12-15 Decalogue.
... Historically, the first mirrors, which have been dated to around 6000 BC and found in Anatolia, Turkey, were made from well-polished stones such as obsidian stones. Originally, humans were inspired by nature to produce mirrors, since humans noticed the reflections of objects on the surface of water [29]. Since that time, mirror systems have been developed and studied to be used for different purposes and technologies as each human generation has needed, such as for making fire, for sighting aids, televisions, and solar power. ...
... Return the best population, X and the best result (Xbest) [28]. EndWhile [29]. End , (EQ7) -Finally, the particle is evaluated to find the best value As with many meta-heuristic algorithms, PSO suffers from a low convergence rate as well as a weakness of a lack of dynamic velocity adjustment. ...
... Break; //Stop the for loop [29]. ...
Article
Full-text available
Meta-heuristic algorithms have shown promising performance in solving sophisticated real-world optimisation problems. Nevertheless, many meta-heuristic algorithms are still suffering from a low convergence rate because of the poor balance between exploration (i.e., roaming new potential search areas) and exploitation (i.e., exploiting the existing neighbours). In some complex problems, the convergence rate can still be poor owing to becoming trapped in local optima. Addressing these issues, this research proposes a new general opposition-based learning (OBL) technique inspired by a natural phenomenon of parallel mirrors systems called the Parallel Mirrors Technique (PMT). Like existing OBL-based approaches, the PMT generates new potential solutions based on the currently selected candidate. Unlike existing OBL-based techniques, the PMT generates more than one candidate in multiple solution-space directions. To evaluate the PMT’s performance and adaptability, the PMT has been applied to four contemporary meta-heuristic algorithms, Differential Evolution (DE), Particle Swarm Optimisation (PSO), Simulated Annealing (SA), and Whale Optimisation Algorithm (WOA), to solve 15 well-known benchmark functions. Experimentally, the PMT shows promising results by accelerating the convergence rate against the original algorithms with the same number of fitness evaluations.
... Metals are fundamental materials used in the production of optical elements such as mirrors, and they have been used for over 5000 years [1]. However, despite this extensive history, wave propagation involving metals has received negligible attention because electromagnetic waves are attenuated in metals due to their negative responses. ...
... Here, we consider two configurations of unit cells, as shown in Fig. 14. For the unit cell, the Bloch impedance can be evaluated as (1) V (2) x Δx FIG. 13. Two-port network. ...
Article
Full-text available
In this study, we establish circuit-theoretical bulk-edge correspondences to indicate the existence of surface plasmon polaritons topologically. First, we reveal an essential topological transition in a minimal circuit model of a composite right-/left-handed transmission line. We then demonstrate that the circuit model can accurately explain the dielectric-metal transition. Using mirror symmetry and Foster's reactance theorem, we prove a parity-reactance correspondence that relates the parities of the bulk wave functions to the sign of the surface reactance. The parity-reactance correspondence describes the underlying mechanism of surface-plasmon-polariton formation without focusing on the Zak phase. Zero flat bands play an essential role in this mechanism, allowing us to define a topological integer that classifies the direct-current (DC) response. The conventional surface-reactance formula using the Zak phase requires plasmonic modification by the defined topological integer. Finally, we develop alternative bulk-edge correspondences based on the DC response without invoking mirror symmetry.
... The exact origin of the mirror is unknown. Enoch (2006) suggested early mirrors were probably rock containers filled with water, and that the first mirrors were found in a grave in Anatolia (Asia Minor), dating approximately to 6200-6000 b.C. These mirrors were manufactured out of volcanic glass and soil, and had a diameter of approximately 9cm. ...
... It is suspected that the later mirrors were of Egyptian origin, approximately 4000-3000 b.C. and had a convex shape, that reflected a vertical image. These societies used the mirror as a religious symbol, used it as a time-keeping device, believed it had magical properties and that is symbolized the inner self (Enoch, 2006). ...
Article
Purpose/aims: This study explored the feasibility of educating nurses on an emotionally sensitive topic using video. The aim was to educate nurses on how to assist individuals who have had an amputation of a limb in viewing themselves in the mirror. Design: One-group repeated-measures design with 2 time points (pretest and posttest at 1 month). Methods: Nurses viewed a video in which 8 amputee actors described how and why nurses should support individuals' viewing of self in the mirror following amputation. Results: This video-based education was feasible, and recommendations were made for future research. Participants were engaged and shared insight into how this knowledge would change their nursing practice. Conclusions: A larger educational research study to test the effect of this education on improving nursing confidence and offering the mirror is recommended.
... The exact origin of the mirror is unknown. Enoch (2006) suggested early mirrors were probably rock containers filled with water, and that the first mirrors were found in a grave in Anatolia (Asia Minor), dating approximately to 6200-6000 b.C. These mirrors were manufactured out of volcanic glass and soil, and had a diameter of approximately 9cm. ...
... It is suspected that the later mirrors were of Egyptian origin, approximately 4000-3000 b.C. and had a convex shape, that reflected a vertical image. These societies used the mirror as a religious symbol, used it as a time-keeping device, believed it had magical properties and that is symbolized the inner self (Enoch, 2006). ...
Article
Full-text available
Aim: In this literature review we aim to understand the importance of the mirror in the daily life of the individual and understand if the mirror can be used as a strategy, assessment and/or intervention in individuals presenting with facial disfigurement caused by trauma or disease. Method: Resorting to the Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection and PsyARTICLES databases, articles that focus on the mirror as therapy were selected. Results: The review suggested that the mirror has been used as a therapeutic strategy, in various contexts (phantom limb pain, substance abuse, hemiplegia, facial paralysis, rehabilitation, dexterity, stroke, body dissatisfaction) with promising results. Recently, a mirror technique has been researched and developed in women who underwent mastectomy, exploring the experience of viewing self in the mirror after surgery (disfigurement). Conclusion: Using the mirror in clinical context is an idiosyncratic and delicate process. The mirror therapy in disfigurement has, recently, focused in the assessment and intervention in women who underwent mastectomy, thus justifying the need to explore this therapy in individuals with facial disfigurement.
... Milattan önce 4.500'lü yıllara tarihlenen bu levha kalıntıları Mısır'da bulunmuştur. Bu kalıntılar, aynanın çerçevesine ait alçı ve arduvaz levhalardır (Enoch 2006). ...
... Their diameters were approximately 9 cm. Some examples of this kind of mirrors were found in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) by Mellaart in the region of the Neolithic settlement dating to ca. 6200 BC (Enoch, 2006;Vit and Rappenglück, 2016). ...
Article
Full-text available
This research case study aims to investigate and conserve an ancient mirror excavated from the Aniba archaeological site located in Aswan, Egypt, dates back to the New Kingdom (16th – 11th c. BC). The mirror was in a poor condition and required cleaning and conservation treatments. The mirror was analysed using a multi-technique approach, including radiography, stereo microscopy, metallography, multispectral imaging, XRD, and p-XRF. The XRF results indicated that the mirror is made of a copper alloy (tin bronze). XRD indicated the presence of various corrosion products, including cuprite (Cu2O), malachite Cu2(CO3)(OH)2, atacamite Cu2Cl(OH)3, and paratacamite Cu₃(OH)₆Cl₂, in addition to Quartz (SiO2), which together indicate the intensity of corrosion. The main objectives of this study are to assess the condition of the mirror, identify the corrosion and damage that have compromised the mirror and to find the most suitable method for conservation. In this contribution we review the history of the mirror, its condition, the documentation and cataloguing processes, and conservation procedures. The investigation concludes with preservation and storage recommendations.
... Th e plane metallic mirror is the simplest optical device that has been used since antiquity [1]. A remarkable and extremely useful feature of the mirror is its ability to sharply change the direction of light rays and, in the case of normal incidence, return the light back over a wide spectral bandwidth. ...
Article
Full-text available
Subject and Purpose. Theoretical demonstration of controllable features of a non-conventional resonant back reflection of light, realizable with the aid of a structured silicon-on-metal covering. Methods and Methodology. The investigation has been performed through a full-wave numerical simulation in a finite-element technique. Results. The nonlinear optical properties of a planar structure, involving a set of silicon disks disposed periodically on a silver substrate, have been studied in the Littrow scenario of wave reflection. The structure manifests a bistable resonant reflectivity property. The magnitudes of both specular and back reflection ratios can be controlled by means of varying the incident light intensity. Conclusions. An array of identical silicon disks, placed in a periodic order on a silver substrate, can be employed as an efficiently excitable and tunable nonlinear resonant reflective structure implementing Littrow’s non-specular diffraction scenario. As has been found, the effect of nonlinear response from the silicon disks can be used for implementing a regimen of bistable back reflection, controllable by means of varying the incident wave’s intensity. The nonlinear tunability of the silicon-on-silver structure does promise extensions of the operation area of classical metamaterials of sub-wavelength scale sizes as it offers new applications for the effects of light-matter interaction.
... La obsidiana -material casi tan versátil como la madera-es un vidrio natural volcánico brilloso, de distintos colores, duro y frágil. Fue elegido por las tribus de la Costa Este de California para la elaboración de puntas de flecha (Hodgson, 2005), cuchillos ceremoniales para danza (Goldschmidt y Driver, 1940) e incluso como un bien inalienable (Rust, 1905); por los egipcios del periodo Dinástico Temprano, donde se encuentran evidencias materiales del uso y explotación de la obsidiana en yacimientos Mesopotámicos (Frahm, Wisti y Wagensonner, 2019); por los habitantes de Catalhöyük, uno de los sitios Neolíticos más antiguos en el cual se elaboraron espejos pulidos de obsidiana (Enoch, 2006), al igual que herramientas rudimentarias para la agricultura y las actividades domésticas (Catalhöyük Research Project, 2012); y por las culturas Mesoamericanas, quienes utilizaron la obsidiana para elaboración de artefactos de distinta índole: armas, joyería, ornato y objetos mágico-religiosos asociados a deidades prehispánicas. Sin embargo, el tipo de fractura concoidea del material, su manipulación y trabajo requieren una mano experta junto con una práctica refinada para la creación objetos de alta complejidad. ...
Article
Full-text available
La industria de obsidiana refleja aspectos económicos, políticos y sociales desde la época Prehispánica hasta la Colonia. En este trabajo ofrecemos una perspectiva arqueológica e histórica; examinamos la explotación prehispánica, colonial y contemporánea; y analizamos la problemática que presentan los yacimientos (patrimonio arqueológico y geológico) en México. Al localizar estos depósitos, proponemos una zonificación por medio de un marco normativo y legal que favorecería la conservación de la obsidiana como un recurso natural y social.
... A flat metallic mirror is a simplest optical device being used since antiquity [1]. A remarkable feature of a mirror is exhibited by extremely useful capability of changing sharply the direction of light rays and returning light back at normal incidence over a wide spectral bandwidth. ...
Preprint
Full-text available
Nonlinear optical features of a plane structure consisted of silicon disks placed periodically on a silver substrate have been studied in the Littrow reflection scenario. The structure manifests a bistable resonant reflective ability. Values of both specular reflectance and reverse one can be tuned by varying an intensity of incident light.
... The earliest manufactured mirrors were pieces of polished stone, e.g., obsidian, a naturally occurring volcanic glass. Some of the obsidian mirrors excavated by archaeologists at Çatal Höyük, located in Anatolia within the Konya Plain (modern day Turkey), have been dated to around 6000 bce [1][2][3]. ...
... I primi specchi costruiti dall'uomo, costituiti da oggetti di ossidiana (vetro vulcanico) con superfici riflettenti, sono stati ritrovati in Anatolia (Turchia) in siti archeologici risalenti al 6000 a.C. (Enoch, 2006). A partire dal 4000 a.C., iniziarono a essere fabbricati specchi formati da dischetti di metallo lucidato, i quali ebbero grande diffusione nel periodo greco-romano e per tutto il medioevo, grazie allo sviluppo delle tecniche di lavorazione dei metalli (bronzo, argento e oro). ...
Preprint
Full-text available
In the paper we will describe three instruments of particular historical and didactic interest belonging to the Historical Collection of Physics Instruments of Palermo University: a convex mirror most likely dating back to the early nineteenth century and a pair of burning mirrors most likely dating back to the mid-nineteenth century. After an introduction on the historical development of mirrors and on their principle of operation, we will describe the characteristics of the instruments of the collection and the interventions carried out.
... Imaging and images are actually commonplace in nature, and have been exploited by humans for millennia. The surfaces of bodies of water and shiny materials have been used as mirrors for over 8000 years (Enoch, 2006). Images of opaque objects appear as shadows when the Sun shines, and have been used for measuring the time since at least as early as 1200 BC (Pilcher, 1923). ...
Thesis
Full-text available
In this thesis, a novel approach to spaceborne imaging is investigated, building upon the scan imaging technique in which camera motion is used to construct an image. This thesis investigates its use with wide-angle (≥90° field of view) optics mounted on spin stabilised probes for large-coverage imaging of planetary environments, and focusses on two instruments. Firstly, a descent camera concept for a planetary penetrator. The imaging geometry of the instrument is analysed. Image resolution is highest at the penetrator’s nadir and lowest at the horizon, whilst any point on the surface is imaged with highest possible resolution when the camera’s altitude is equal to that point’s radius from nadir. Image simulation is used to demonstrate the camera’s images and investigate analysis techniques. A study of stereophotogrammetric measurement of surface topography using pairs of descent images is conducted. Measurement accuracies and optimum stereo geometries are presented. Secondly, the thesis investigates the EnVisS (Entire Visible Sky) instrument, under development for the Comet Interceptor mission. The camera’s imaging geometry, coverage and exposure times are calculated, and used to model the expected signal and noise in EnVisS observations. It is found that the camera’s images will suffer from low signal, and four methods for mitigating this – binning, coaddition, time-delay integration and repeat sampling – are investigated and described. Use of these methods will be essential if images of sufficient signal are to be acquired, particularly for conducting polarimetry, the performance of which is modelled using Monte Carlo simulation. Methods of simulating planetary cameras’ images are developed to facilitate the study of both cameras. These methods enable the accurate simulation of planetary surfaces and cometary atmospheres, are based on Python libraries commonly used in planetary science, and are intended to be readily modified and expanded for facilitating the study of a variety of planetary cameras.
... Being the most essential components in optical systems, mirrors are widely employed to change the propagation of electromagnetic (EM) waves since they were first explored in Anatolia at the dawn of civilization 1 and have already been used for various applications in imaging, sensing, spectroscopy, and communication, to name but a few. In general, conventional metallic mirrors exhibit isotropic EM responses which can reflect EM waves regardless of their incident polarizations. ...
... A rough surface causes diffuse reflection (1) and blurred transmission by destructing spatial phase coherence; in contrast, a flat surface allows specular reflection (2) and distortion-free transmission with uniform distribution of phase difference. Therefore, diffuse reflection and distortion-free transmission are usually incompatible. ...
Article
Full-text available
Rough surfaces lead to diffused light in both reflection and transmission, thereby blurring the reflected and transmitted images. Here, we merge the traditionally incompatible diffuse reflection and undistorted transmission by introducing the concept of random-flip metasurfaces made of randomly flipped components. These metasurfaces have a globally random phase in reflection that leads to diffuse reflection, while the local space inversion and reciprocity principle ensure distortion-free transmission. Notably, the metasurface reflects like a rough surface yet transmits like a smooth one in a broad spectrum. On the basis of complementary random arrays of gold nanorods, we verified this functionality by both optical spectroscopy and imaging experiments over a broad range of frequencies from the visible to the infrared regime. This feature, which originates from breaking the phase correlation between reflection and transmission by the metasurface, could enable a range of new optical materials and display technology.
... A convex mirror has less surface area, and therefore requires less metal to make. See Enoch 2006: 776;2007: 1222. With a well-fed person in mind, the word "belly" (udara) might invoke the image of a round and bulging object. ...
Article
Full-text available
The article analyses an argument given in Jñānarāja's Siddhāntasundara (ca. 1500) on the shape of the earth according to the Purāṇas. The argument involves the use of the word gola, 'ball, globe,' in the Purāṇas, a Purāṇic statement about the mountain Meru being north of everywhere, and a Purāṇic comparison of the earth to a mirror. The article concludes that Jñānarāja breaks with the Purāṇas as well as the traditional commentaries on these texts, and further suggests that we might have to rethink the dictionary definition of gola.
... Mirrors are reflective surfaces that have been around since the beginning of time and serve multiple purposes such as: viewing one's image, decorative purposes, scientific instruments such as telescopes, and even entertainment (Enoch, 2006). Duval and Wicklund's (1972) Theory of Objective Self-Awareness suggests that reflection of one's self in the mirror contributes to an increased sense of self-awareness. ...
Article
Aim To explore and discuss the perceptions and experiences of caregivers who rendered care to persons with dementia who viewed themselves in the mirror. Background Considerations must be given to caring for those with dementia due to the steady rise of adults 65 and older living with dementia. A literature review revealed limited experiential knowledge concerning aspects of mirror-viewing for persons with dementia. Methods This phenomenological hermeneutic study was analyzed using Ricoeur’s theory of interpretation. Eighteen participants who cared for individuals with dementia in the home, and long-term care facilities took part in the study. A semi-structured interview guide with open- ended questions facilitated an open dialogue about their experiences while caring for persons with dementia when they view themselves in the mirror. Two questions guiding the study were: 1) What are caregivers’ perceptions of what they see and believe when they observe dementia patients whom they care view themselves in a mirror? 2) How do the caregivers’ perceptions of that experience change over time as the dementia worsens? Results The structural analysis uncovered a considerable difference between the numbers of mirrors available in the homes as compared to the long-term care facilities. Two phenomenological findings were uncovered: 1) decision to look in the mirror and 2) viewing self in the mirror. Six subsequent subthemes; mirror as a tool, wanting to look presentable, self- recognition, self-confirmation seeing another and the latent stage were revealed. Conclusion A mirror assessment is needed for individuals who have dementia.
... Studies such as those by Sabine Melchior-Bonnet (1994) and Jay M. Enoch (2006) have shown the importance of optical instruments in expanding the range of human vision in diverse ways. Technologies such as the telescope, the microscope or photography are significant in that they use lenses that enable new forms of seeing, a fact that, as Timothy Reiss (1997) explained, has an epistemological impact. ...
... MÖ 3.binden itibaren Mısır'da görsel sanat eserlerinde artık ayna figürleri de görülmeye başlar (Enoch, 2006: fig. 3). ...
Article
Full-text available
... Since the beginning of mankind, the human race has always shown strong interest in the origin of optical phenomena, and how to control them for its own benefit. Evidences of early objects for light control currently date from the beginning of bronze age [1], with the discovery of ancient mirrors and lenses based on polished metals and rock crystal (quartz) respectively (Figure 1.1). Despite there being uncertainty about whether the physics behind such items were known by then, it is believed that their function was to serve as imaging and magnification tools [2]. ...
... Similar reflection and reassurance of self is provided by a glass mirror as well, and this may be one of the inherent incentives for its use [34]. Given that mirrors have not been around since the dawn of humanity [35], a sense of self can likely be formed without one at hand. We propose that the path by which humans could have always observed themselves to get a notion of self is by olfaction. ...
Article
Full-text available
All primates, including humans, engage in self-face-touching at very high frequency. The functional purpose or antecedents of this behaviour remain unclear. In this hybrid review , we put forth the hypothesis that self-face-touching subserves self-smelling. We first review data implying that humans touch their faces at very high frequency. We then detail evidence from the one study that implicated an olfactory origin for this behaviour: This evidence consists of significantly increased nasal inhalation concurrent with self-face-touching, and predictable increases or decreases in self-face-touching as a function of subliminal odourant tainting. Although we speculate that self-smelling through self-face-touching is largely an unconscious act, we note that in addition, humans also consciously smell themselves at high frequency. To verify this added statement, we administered an online self-report questionnaire. Upon being asked, approximately 94% of approximately 400 respondents acknowledged engaging in smelling themselves. Paradoxically, we observe that although this very prevalent behaviour of self-smelling is of concern to individuals, especially to parents of children overtly exhibiting self-smelling, the behaviour has nearly no traction in the medical or psychological literature. We suggest psychological and cultural explanations for this paradox, and end in suggesting that human self-smelling become a formal topic of investigation in the study of human social olfaction. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Olfactory communication in humans’.
... Debate over a date for the Thera eruption: Measurements of radiocarbon ( 14 C) from legumes and grains (3,8,9) buried directly beneath the eruption deposits, and an olive branch (10) buried within them, cluster in the range c.1650-1600 cal BCE relative to the internationally agreed radiocarbon calibration curve, IntCal13 (11), which converts radiocarbon determinations from samples of unknown age into calendar age estimates (12). These estimates place the eruption in the second half of the 17th century BCE (9,13). ...
Preprint
Full-text available
Six earliest 18th Dynasty high chronology (18DHC) Sothic-dated royal accessions from Amenhotep I through Amenhotep II fall on exact full moon days when their summer solstice Sothic New Year's Days are set to Sirius' day 2 (rarely 3) cosmical rising, for the dead-reckoned 18DHCs of David Aston (2014), E. F. Wente (1975), and D. B. Redford (1973), confirming them and my pre-1320 BC Synchronous Sothic Calendar. The signature full moons include Amenhotep I's 11 May 1559 coregency with dynasty founder Ahmose (nomen The Moon Is Born), and his 14 May 1551 sole reign. This Final Edition brings a few corrections and improvements, but nothing which alert Edition 1.0 readers could not cope with.
... Regarding the 20 Fenchurch Street Tower as well as the Vdara Hotel, the problem is due to neglecting a simple matter of optics (light convergence) that has been known for centuries (Enoch, 2006;Mach, n.d.). More strange than why the designer team did not pay attention to this issue is why they repeated it in the second project after having seen the dilemma in the first one. ...
Chapter
Full-text available
Today, even in developed countries, performing life-cycle assessment (LCA) is still a challenging and complex process, mixed with the possibility of significant errors—namely due to unreliable input data derived from unrepresentative sampling. Some scientific texts illustrate the so-called Smart World—where such errors are minimized via the exchange of information between everything globally. This may sound contradictory to the fact that now almost half the world population do not even have internet access. However, this chapter shows—by reasoning, review, and synthesis of the literature, theories, and data—that the emergence of the Smart World is plausible. Yet, it will not necessarily be sustainable, unless “smartness” is (re)defined in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. Otherwise, also, LCA might become obsolete, or its goals may transmute to non-sustainable ones. Focusing on examples from the construction industry and their interactions with other sectors, some shortcuts are also suggested to facilitate innovations and development of LCA and decision-making procedures.
... These can be applied by third parties, but are more often self-applied with the use of a mirror or reflecting surface, such as still water. The earliest known obsidian (volcanic glass) mirrors were located in Turkey and date to 8,000 years ago (Enoch 2006). Polished copper mirrors were in use in Egypt from at least 5,000 years ago. ...
Chapter
Full-text available
In this chapter I discuss the history and beautifying function of cosmetics, along with the sexual politics that such practices implicate and express. Though tattooing, scarifying, and body painting are other common ways of marking the body and can also serve a beautifying function, I do not consider them. Here I will focus mainly on ways of decorating the face and head. Such practices are widespread and ancient. *** I begin with an overview of the importance of cosmetics in different cultures in the course of history. Of course, this account is incomplete. These are the key points: the use of cosmetics is ancient and ubiquitous, but, nevertheless, the attitude (especially of men) toward cosmetics is also often negative or ambivalent. The term cosmetics derives from the Greek kosmos, meaning order or adornment. Cosmetics include skin-care products, balms, medications, and the like. The term makeup is usually reserved for beauty products.
... Mirrors are commonly used in daily life, and they can date back to more than 8000 years ago [16]. Although mirrors are common, the peculiar properties and functions of metamaterial mirrors deserve researchers' attention. ...
Article
Full-text available
Metamaterials are “new materials” with different superior physical properties, which have generated great interest and become popular in scientific research. Various designs and functional devices using metamaterials have formed a new academic world. The application concept of metamaterial is based on designing diverse physical structures that can break through the limitations of traditional optical materials and composites to achieve extraordinary material functions. Therefore, metadevices have been widely studied by the academic community recently. Using the properties of metamaterials, many functional metadevices have been well investigated and further optimized. In this article, different metamaterial structures with varying functions are reviewed, and their working mechanisms and applications are summarized, which are near-field energy transfer devices, metamaterial mirrors, metamaterial biosensors, and quantum-cascade detectors. The development of metamaterials indicates that new materials will become an important breakthrough point and building blocks for new research domains, and therefore they will trigger more practical and wide applications in the future.
... Perhaps the most universally striking optical feature of metals, when polished to a smooth surface, is their high reflectivity. Early human civilizations around the world have utilized mirrors of polished copper as early as 4000 B.C. [35], so the ability of metals to reflect light has been well known through a majority of human civilization. Despite this, our current theoretical framework for understanding the properties of metals only begins around the 20th century with P. Drude's proposal of a kinetic model for the free charge carriers in metals in 1900 [36,37]. ...
Preprint
Full-text available
Metallic nanostructures can support so-called plasma oscillations (plasmons). Plasmons allow for the concentration of the energy from light, down to sizes well below the conventional diffraction limit known from optics. Plasmonics thus allows for a plethora of new optical applications at the nanoscale. In this thesis, we have investigated the optical and plasmonic properties of semi-continuous gold films (also called percolation films). These films consist of complex tortuous fractal patterns on the nanoscale. They are an easy, fast, and scalable method to fabricate metallic nanostructures. We show, that despite their very complex overall geometry, a large part of the films' properties can be understood alone based on their strongly localized plasmonic 'hotspots' - areas of just a few nanometres in the films, wherein optical fields are enhanced several thousand times. Additionally, we show that such films can be used for the enhancement of gold two-photon photoluminescence and white light continuum generation. We have also shown that it is possible, via femtosecond-laser pulses, to inscribe information into the films, via phototheral processes. This has potential applications for ultra-dense information storage, and plasmonic colour laser printing.
... An emerging intelligent house device with potentially wide- ranging applications for healthcare outside of traditional medical settings is the smart mirror. These mirrors augment the reflecting surface that underlies this 8000-year-old technology 2 with electronic hardware and computer software to provide passive monitoring, reminders, entertainment, information, and many other possibilities. 3 While applications of smart mirrors have appeared in the automotive 4,5 and clothing industries, 6 real-world examples of this technology in healthcare remains limited. ...
Article
Full-text available
Abstract Inexpensive embedded computing and the related Internet of Things technologies enable the recent development of smart products that can respond to human needs and improve everyday tasks in an attempt to make traditional environments more “intelligent”. Several projects have augmented mirrors for a range of smarter applications in automobiles and homes. The opportunity to apply smart mirror technology to healthcare to predict and to monitor aspects of health and disease is a natural but mostly underdeveloped idea. We envision that smart mirrors comprising a combination of intelligent hardware and software could identify subtle, yet clinically relevant changes in physique and appearance. Similarly, a smart mirror could record and evaluate body position and motion to identify posture and movement issues, as well as offer feedback for corrective actions. Successful development and implementation of smart mirrors for healthcare applications will require overcoming new challenges in engineering, machine learning, computer vision, and biomedical research. This paper examines the potential uses of smart mirrors in healthcare and explores how this technology might benefit users in various medical environments. We also provide a brief description of the state-of-the-art, including a functional prototype concept developed by our group, and highlight the directions to make this device more mainstream in health-related applications.
Article
Full-text available
This paper will present the results of a multianalytical study on an ancient mirror disk stored at the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). The metal mirror disk was discovered at the Tura El-Asmant archaeological site in the governorate of Cairo, Upper Egypt, dating to the Late Period. The mirror is in poor condition and covered with corrosion layers which required suitable conservation treatments in order to preserve and display it in the GEM. The primary goals of the study are to identify the various types of corrosion and deterioration thathave degraded the mirror in order to determine the most suitable method for the conservation. The studyuses many techniques, including scanning electron microscope (SEM), radiography, metallography examina-tion, and portable X-ray fluorescence, which allows compositional analysis and gets information about the technique used to produce it. The mirror’s past, present, condition, documentation, conservation techniques, preservation, and storage recommendations will be explored in this contribution.
Article
Un tour d’horizon des premières productions de miroirs en pierre et en métal de la Préhistoire et de la Protohistoire, depuis le Néolithique jusqu’à l’âge du Fer, permet de proposer une nouvelle histoire du reflet dans les régions orientales et méditerranéennes, dont les racines plongent en Égypte et au Proche-Orient ancien. Guidée par une perspective historique, cette démarche a pour but d’enserrer chronologiquement et géographiquement le phénomène dans et autour de l’espace méditerranéen, et de définir son intégration dans les circuits régionaux.
Conference Paper
Full-text available
We present the status of ongoing work at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) to build a prototype, low-cost-of-production, flexibly-configured ground terminal for space optical communication. For laser telecommunication to be cost effective for future missions, a widespread global network of operationally responsive optical terminals should be established. There has been a decades-old need for a single modular open systems approach (MOSA) ground terminal architecture capable of supporting multiple space missions ranging from LEO to Lunar distances with 2-way laser communications.
Article
This article uses the Museum of Vision Science and other museums of optometry as an entry point for considering the science of seeing and the seeing of science. The Museum of Vision Science, the only optometric museum in Canada, is part of an optometry school. The placement of the Museum of Vision Science within an optometry school perhaps harkens back to 19th-century examples of professional schools and museums, and this article suggests ways the museum could offer a dynamic approach to humanities understandings of vision within a science curriculum. But, more broadly, this article uses the case study of the Museum of Vision Science to consider larger possibilities for visual communication studies in conversation with optometry. Although the museum situates itself as one of vision science, it also offers a complicated ‘cultural’ history of vision. The author bridges questions of the hegemony of vision science with the practice of visual communication studies.
Chapter
In this introductory chapter we start with a brief summary of the implications of using radiation-in, radiation-out techniques for the analysis of historical artifacts and then move to the origins, and cultural/historical context of the principles underlying the analytical techniques described in the book. We touch on the use of vision in spectroscopy and discuss the interaction between wave and particle descriptions of radiation in ancient and modern thought. The 1635 discovery of diffraction by Francisco Grimaldi and its consequence, the 1807 “two slit” experiment of Thomas Young, and their ongoing implications for science in general and analytical techniques in particular, are discussed in detail. We then describe how different radiation beams are parameterized, and the implications of these parameters for destructive, nondestructive, and noninvasive analysis.
Article
Many previously observed strong chiroptical effects are limited to chiral metamaterials with complex three-dimensional building blocks. Recently, chiral metamirrors consisting of planar elements are proposed to selectively reflect one particular circularly polarized light (CPL) while absorbing the other, with the reflected one either preserving or altering its spin state. However, they are limited by complicated subwavelength chiral profiles of their unit cells, which are challenging to fabricate in the visible-near infrared (NIR) region. We present an extrinsically 2D-chiral metamirror that reflects one CPL preserving its handedness while strongly absorbing the other, reaching a circular conversion dichroism (CCD) in reflectance as large as 0.43 in the NIR region. Our polarisation-conserving mirror possesses an Au pillar array and a continuous Al film separated by a SiO2 dielectric layer, where the Au pillars are periodically arranged by a rectangular lattice. The rather simple geometry of mirror significantly simplifies its fabrication in the high frequency region. The pronounced CCD originates from a chiral triad of the achiral resonator array and light’s propagation direction. Such a chiral mirror provides an efficient methodology towards handedness-selective modulation of the CPL and find applications in planar photonic devices such as molecular spectroscopy, quantum information, and polarimetric imaging.
Chapter
The symptoms characteristic of Alice in Wonderland syndrome are usually subtle in nature, in the sense that they tend to affect only a minor aspect of a person’s full perceptual experience. As a consequence, everything is perceived just as before, except that, for example, all vertical lines are slanted, as happened to Paul; or time is found to slow down, the way this is experienced by Neo in The Matrix [1]; or one’s body is experienced as shrinking to the height of a thimble, as happened to Alice in the story and to Ms. Rembrandt in real life and so on, in accordance with any of the numerous variations that we have encountered so far, and indeed, many, many more. Sometimes these symptoms occur in conjunction with each other, although they mostly present as isolated perceptual distortions, leaving the rest of what we perceive intact. What is more, even when several symptoms are present, they tend to be experienced in the same sensory modality, being all visual in nature, or all somatosensory and so on. As far as we know, based on the limited number of extant case descriptions, only 15% of all people with Alice in Wonderland syndrome report symptoms in more than one sensory modality [2]. The remaining 85% of them report unimodal experiences—which, as we just saw, tend to consist of a single symptom.
Article
Full-text available
This paper focuses on Harriet Prescott Spofford’s short story “The Ray of Displacement” which appeared in The Metropolitan Magazine in October 1903. The story deals with a crystal structure and the adventures of an unnamed scientist falsely accused of stealing it. The scientist’s invention of a Y-ray, capable of separating atoms and molecules so that solid bodies can penetrate one another, leads him to the discovery of disembodiment and invisibility. The story indirectly refers to St. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians where Revelation is shown as a riddle or enigma reflected on a looking glass. Spofford offers a hybrid narrative which fuses philanthropy, ethical concerns, and the power of sympathy, typically attributed to the female gender, with scientific forms of perceiving transcendence dominated by male consciousness. Inverting the angelic rhetoric present in the conception of the “Angel in the house,” Spofford displays a complex story that engenders the supernatural.
Article
Ovidius’un “Dönüşümler” adlı eserinde geçen Narkisos ve Eko’nun hikayesinde aşkına karşılık bulamayan bir peri kızı olan Eko ve kendi görüntüsüne âşık olan Narkisos adlı iki karakterin dönüşümü anlatılmaktadır. Bu hikâye yalnızlık temasını işlemiş olup mitin kahramanlarından Eko sesi, Narkisos ise görüntüyü temsil etmektedir. Burada Narkisos kaynak görüntü ve bir yüzeye yansıyan imgesini temsil ederken, Eko ise kaynağından uzaklaşmış, bedenini terk etmiş, yabancılaşmış ve yalnızlaşmış bir ses olarak tanımlanabilir. Yirminci yüzyılda ses kayıt teknolojisinin ortaya çıkmasıyla birlikte sesler ve onları çıkaran kaynaklar birbirlerinden ayrılmaya başlamıştır. Sesleri çıkaran nesnelerin fiziksel olarak mekânda bulunmaksızın seslerinin çalınabilmesi ve manipülasyonun mümkün hale gelmesi sanatçılar tarafından sesler ve görüntülerin birbirinden bağımsız olarak yeni ilişkiler kurmasını sağlamıştır. Böylece ses ve görüntünün ayrılması düşüncesi 1960’li yıllardan başlayarak Batı sanat ortamında Ses Sanatı adı verilen bir üretim mecrasını ortaya çıkarmıştır. Bu çalışma Narkisos ve Eko mitinden hareketle, kaynak imge ve dönüşüme uğrayan sesleri doğrultusunda belirli çağdaş ses sanatı yapıtlarında yalnızlık temasının ne şekilde incelendiğine ilişkin bir bakış açısı sunmayı hedeflemektedir.
Article
Light reflection, which is inherent to any object, often exhibits detrimental effects on solar energy conversion devices, and causes “light pollution” in our surroundings, affecting humans’ daily activities and the performance of various optical devices. It has been a great challenge to eliminate the reflections for ultra-wide wavebands. We propose an interface-fee region model and prove that ultra-broadband and extremely low reflectance is achievable both experimentally and theoretically. We demonstrate that extremely low reflectance was observed in surface modified Super-clear glass over a very wide range of wavelengths from 300 up to 2360 nm. A generic formula is proposed for the minimum thickness of the zero reflective layer in relation to the maximum wavelength.
Chapter
Full-text available
Cultural interactions can be traced through archaeological evidence linking Mainland Southeast Asia and Island Southeast Asia, as well as linking Southeast Asia, China, and India. Examples are discussed in terms of the movements of raw materials, knowledge, technologies, finished goods, or even craftsmen. Through examining the flows of varied objects such as jade, glass, bronze, iron, and gold from their source or homeland to other locations, a picture can be reconstructed of the complicated inter-community networks in Southeast Asia prehistory. These long-distance and long-term networking activities significantly shaped the cultural diversity of Southeast Asia, as it is known today.
Chapter
An optical mirror is a sufficiently smooth surface that reflects light – in some wavelength range – to provide an image from given original object. From early plane mirrors, as quiet water, polished obsidian stone, or brass substrates, subsequent mirror fabrication mainly evolved towards use of glass substrates coated with high a reflectivity metal that may receive a protective layer deposit to prevent from tarnishing. Plane and curved – concave or convex – mirrors are commonly used as domestic devices, safety devices and decorative panels. Mirrors are key components of many scientific instruments, such as telescopes, microscopes, lasers, and cameras. Present state of the art of making and testing a mirror optical surface allows reaching the ultimate theoretical limit of diffraction – then called a diffraction-limited mirror – where the reflected wavefront does not deviate more than a visible quarter-wave length from a required shape.
Chapter
Tool use is observed and shared in animals with and without phylogenetic relationships. Therefore, tool use is an excellent behavioural model to explore dynamic relationships between animals’ physical and cognitive abilities and their environmental conditions. In this chapter, we will focus on tool use in primates, especially Japanese macaques and common marmosets, which have not been observed to use tools in the wild but can be trained to do so through appropriate behavioural training. This approach enables us to determine the conditions that are needed for acquisition, as well as the types of cognitive and neuronal characteristics that can be observed during and after the development of tool use. Several studies of Japanese macaques have indicated that they can be trained to use tools within a few weeks, suggesting that the behavioural and cognitive components for tool use were already present before training. The acquisition of tool use is supported by structural changes in several brain regions throughout training. Furthermore, through careful, step-by-step training, the use of tools to obtain visual cues, such as an endoscope, was successfully established for the first time in macaques. Japanese macaques exhibit different characteristics in the acquisition of tool use than common marmosets as marmosets required much longer periods of time, and they worked mainly according to their own motivation to use tools. These differences were reflected in structural changes in the brain. In the discussion, we will compare the tool use behaviours of primates and other species, particularly birds, to explore the possible physical, cognitive and environmental conditions for exhibiting tool use from a comparative perspective.
Article
The excavations at Çatal Hüyük, the neolithic city mound in the Konya Plain, which were begun in 1961 were continued during the summer of 1962. The second season of excavation began on 7th June and lasted until 14th August, sixty working days, with a labour force which never exceeded thirty-five men, mostly trained under our foreman, Veli Karaaslan, at Beycesultan and Hacılar. Once again our trusted ustas included Rifat Çelimli, Mustafa Duman and Bekir Kalayci. Survey equipment and transport for the expedition were generously provided by Turkse Shell, Ankara. The 1962 season was financed by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, New York, a bequest from the late Mr. Francis Neilson, the Australian Institute of Archaeology and its President, Mr. W. J. Beasley, The British Academy, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. In addition the Director had a personal fellowship from the Bollingen Foundation, New York.
Article
The site of Çatal Hüyük was discovered during our survey of the Konya Plain in November, 1958. Rich in surface finds of a type hitherto only known from Professor J. Garstang's excavations at Mersin on the south coast of Anatolia, its importance was soon realised. However, at the time of the discovery, we were engaged in the excavation of the equally important site of Hacılar and it was not until after the completion of excavations there that digging could be contemplated at Çatal Hüyük. After the final season at Hacılar in 1960, we were free to devote our attention to this new site. As Hacılar showed a gap in its culture sequence exactly during the Early Neolithic period, which surface finds showed was best represented at Çatal Hüyük, it was decided to start excavations at this site to complete the sequence and throw further light on Hacılar.
Naturales Quaestiones. With an English translation by Thomas H. Corcoran.
  • Seneca
Possible origins of the Chinese mirror.
  • Julianno
Parallels: Mesoamerican and Ancient Middle Eastern Traditions.
  • Wirth
Mirrors on the fringe.
  • Rubinson