Phenakistoscope.

JOSEPH PLATEAU 1832.

History:

In 1832, Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau and his sons introduced the phenakistoscope (spindle viewer). It was also invented independently in the same year by Simon von Stampfer of Vienna, Austria, who called his invention a stroboscope. Plateau’s inspiration had come primarily from the work of Michael Faraday and Peter Mark Roget (the compiler of Roger’s Thesaurus). Faraday had invented a device he called “Michael Faraday’s Wheel”, that consisted of two discs that spun in opposite directions from each other. From this, Plateau took another step, adapting Faraday’s wheel into a toy he later named the Phenkistoscope.

How it works:

The phenakistoscope uses the persistence of motion principle to create an illusion of motion. Although this principle had been recognized by the Greek mathematician Euclid and later in experiments by Newton, it was not until 1829 that this principle became firmly established by Joseph Plateau.

Zoetrope.

WILLIAM HORNER 1834

History:

The Zoetrope was invented in 1834 in England by William Horner. He called it the ‘Daedalum’ (‘the wheel of the devil’). It didn’t become popular until the 1860s,when it was patented by makers in both England and America. The American developer, William F. Lincoln, named this toy the ‘zoetrope’, which means ‘wheel of life’.

How it works:

The zoetrope worked on the same principles as the phenakistiscope, but the pictures were drawn on a strip which could be set around the bottom third of a metal drum, with the slits now cut in the upper section of the drum. The drum was mounted on a spindle so that it could be spun, and viewers looking through the slits would see the cartoon strip form a moving image. The faster the drum is spun, the smother the image that is produced.