Kaleidoscope | mirror, light, colors | Britannica (original) (raw)

kaleidoscope, optical device consisting of mirrors that reflect images of bits of coloured glass in a symmetrical geometric design through a viewer. The design may be changed endlessly by rotating the section containing the loose fragments. The name is derived from the Greek words kalos (“beautiful”), eïdos (“form”), and skopeïn (“to view”).

The kaleidoscope was invented by Sir David Brewster about 1816 and patented in 1817. Sold usually as a toy, the kaleidoscope also has value for the pattern designer.

The kaleidoscope illustrates the image-forming properties of combined, inclined mirrors. If an object is placed between two mirrors inclined at right angles, an image is formed in each mirror. Each of these mirror images is in turn reflected in the other mirror, forming the appearance of four symmetrically placed objects. If the mirrors are inclined at 60°, a hexagonally symmetrical pattern results from one object producing six regularly placed images.

kaleidoscopeThe incline of the two mirrors inside a kaleidoscope determines the number of times the pattern created by the reflection of an object is repeated. If the mirrors are positioned at a right angle, four images of the object can be seen. If the mirrors' surfaces are positioned at 60°, six images of the object appear.

A simple kaleidoscope consists of two thin, wedge-shaped mirror strips touching along a common edge or of a single sheet of bright aluminum bent to an angle of 60° or 45°. The mirrors are enclosed in a tube with a viewing eyehole at one end. At the other end is a thin, flat box that can be rotated; it is made from two glass disks, the outer one ground to act as a diffusing screen. In this box are pieces of coloured glass, tinsel, or beads. When the box is turned or tapped, the objects inside tumble into an arbitrary grouping, and when the diffusing screen is illuminated, the sixfold or eightfold multiplication creates a striking symmetrical pattern. The number of combinations and patterns is effectively without limit.

Some kaleidoscopes dispense with the object box and use a lens to throw images of distant objects on the mirrors, an eyepiece at the viewing eyehole then being an advantage.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Richard Pallardy.