Optics Collection

Letter from Sir Issac Newton to William Briggs, 20th June 1682. Artist: Isaac Newton
Letter from Sir Issac Newton to William Briggs, 20th June 1682. Letter written from Trinity College, Cambridge by Newton to William Briggs, MD

Professor Robert Wood, portrait photograph, 1932. Creator: Arnold Genthe
Professor Robert Wood, portrait photograph, 1932. Possibly a portrait of Robert Williams Wood, American physicist and inventor who made important contributions to the field of optics; pioneered

Professor Robert Wood, portrait photograph, 1932. Creator: Arnold Genthe
Professor Robert Wood, portrait photograph, 1932. Possibly a portrait of Robert Williams Wood, American physicist and inventor who made important contributions to the field of optics; pioneered

Design: Camera Obscura, from Encyclopédie, 1762/77. Creator: A. J. Defehrt
Design: Camera Obscura, from Encyclopedie, 1762/77

Design: Camera Obscura, from Encyclopédie, 1762/77. Creator: A. J. Defehrt
Design: Camera Obscura, from Encyclopedie, 1762/77

A Teenage Boy and Girl with a Viewer for an Optique Picture (Nozoki-karakuri); Kobo Daishis Poem on the Jewel River of Koya (Koya no Tamagawa: Kobo Daishi), ca. 1788

I. Newton, (1642-1727), 1830. Creator: Unknown
I. Newton, (1642-1727), 1830. Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, theologian, and author, educated at Trinity College, Cambridge

Hans Jansen and his son Sacharias, c1870. Artist: H Sluyter
Hans Jansen and his son Sacharias, c1870. Some historians credit Sacharias Jansen, a Middelburg spectacle maker, with the invention of the telescope and the microscope

Microscope made by C Reichert, Vienna, 1895. Artist: C Reichert
Microscope made by C Reichert, Vienna, 1895. The microscope featured objectives of different powers which could be turned into viewing position as required

Stereoopticon, c. 1937. Creator: William Spiecker
Stereooptician, c. 1937

Moritz Hermann von Jacobis Telegraph, 1843. Creator: Historic Object
Moritz Hermann von Jacobis Telegraph, 1843. Found in the collection of State Central Railway Museum, St. Petersburg

Portrait of Moritz Hermann von Jacobi (1801-1874), 1837. Creator: Hau, Eduard (1807-1887)
Portrait of Moritz Hermann von Jacobi (1801-1874), 1837. Private Collection

Huygens, (1629-1695), 1830. Creator: Unknown
Huygens, (1629-1695), 1830. Christiaan Huygens or Huyghens (1629-1695) Dutch physicist, mathematician, astronomer and inventor who made contributions to optics, mechanics and astronomy

Camera obscura. From Encyclopedie by Denis Diderot and Jean Le Rond d Alembert, 1751-1765. Private Collection

Ars magna lucis et umbrae, 1646. Creator: Kircher, Athanasius (1602-1680)
Ars magna lucis et umbrae, 1646. Private Collection

Comparative depiction of the human eye and the camera obscura, 18th century. Creator: Anonymous
Comparative depiction of the human eye and the camera obscura, 18th century. Private Collection

Technician installing eye-glasses in helmet. Creator: NASA
Technician installing eye-glasses in helmet

Polyorama Panoptique, c1851. Box with expanding bellows, a lens, a shutter and a set of slides that can be inserted. By altering the aperture of the shutter the image on the slide changes from day

Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727), English mathematician, astronomer and physicist, 1924
Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727), English mathematician, astronomer and physicist, 19th century. Newtons discoveries were prolific and exerted a huge influence on science and thought

Thomsons Lantern, 19th century(?)

Christiaan Huygens, 17th century Dutch mathematician, astronomer and physicist, c1870. Artist: JH Rennefeld
Christiaan Huygens, 17th century Dutch mathematician, astronomer and physicist, c1870. Huygens (1629-1695) made important contributions in several scientific fields

Optical studies, late 15th or early 16th century (1954). Artist: Leonardo da Vinci
Optical studies, late 15th or early 16th century (1954). Ms. C, 22r. A print from Leonardo da Vinci by Ludwig H Heydenreich. (London, 1954)

Reflections of the sun on water, late 15th or early 16th century (1954). Artist: Leonardo da Vinci
Reflections of the sun on water, late 15th or early 16th century (1954). Codex Atlanticus, 208v-b. A print from Leonardo da Vinci by Ludwig H Heydenreich. (London, 1954)

A letter from Isaac Newton, and a view of his birthplace at Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, 1682, (1840)
A letter from Sir Isaac Newton, and a view of his birthplace at Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, 1682, (1840). Fac-simile extract from Sir Isaac Newtons letter to Dr Briggs

Roger Bacon, 13th century English Franciscan friar and philosopher, (c1850). Bacon (c1214-1292) was known as Doctor Mirabilis due to his interest in magic and alchemy

The Spectacles Seller, Eyesight (from the series The Five Senses ), 17th century. Artist: Andries Dirksz Both
The Spectacles Seller, Eyesight (from the series The Five Senses ), 17th century. Found in the collection of the State Art Museum, Tula, Russia

Sir David Brewster, 19th century Scottish scientist, inventor and writer. Artist: DJ Pound
Sir David Brewster, 19th century Scottish scientist, inventor and writer. In 1816 Brewster (1781-1868) invented the kaleidoscope

Descartes idea of the hydraulic action of the nerves, 1692. French philosopher Rene Descartes (1596-1650) believed nerves were hollow, provided with valves

William Herschels reflecting telescope of 40 ft (12 m) focal length, 1789 (1807). Built by the German-born English astronomer, William Herschel (1738-1822), in the grounds of his home in Slough

David Brewster, Scottish physicist, 1868. Brewster (1781-1868) was editor of the Edinburgh Magazine, 1802 and the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, 1808. His scientific work was mainly in the field of optics

Galileo demonstrating his telescope, Venice, 1609 (1870). In this artists reconstruction Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), Italian astronomer, mathematician and physicist

Microscopes and microscopical objects, 1750. I: Wilsons pocket microscope. II: Scroll microscope. III: Tripod microscope - improved form of Marshalls double microscope

Universal joint invented by Robert Hooke, 1676. Hooke (1635-1703) devised this joint to allow directional movement of astronomical instruments. From A Description of Helioscopes by Robert Hooke

Newtons experiment splitting white light into the colours of the spectrum by a prism, 1757
Newtons experiment showing how white light is refracted by a prism and split into the colours of the spectrum, 1757. The dotted line shows the beam of light entering through the window

Optical phenomena observed and described by Sir Isaac Newton, 1704. The formation of a rainbow by dispersion and total internal reflection (Fig 15)

William Wollastons reflecting goniometer for measuring the angles of crystals, 1874. William Hyde Wollaston (1766-1828) was a notable English chemist who researched into both chemistry and optics

Plate measuring microscope, 1895. A woman measuring star positions on a photographic plate during the compilation of the Carte du Ciel at the Paris Observatory

Light, c1850. Educational plate showing reflection and refraction, light travelling in straight lines, a burning mirror (13) and Newtons prism experiment (27). (Wurtemberg, Germany c1850)

Hans Lippershey, Dutch optician credited with the discovery of the telescope, 1655. Lippershey (c1570-1619) applied for a patent for his telescope in 1608, and word of his invention reached Galileo

Discovery of the principle of the telescope, 17th century (1863). Artists impression of the supposed chance discovery of the principle of the telescope by children playing in the workshop of

Sir David Brewster, Scottish physicist, 1800s. Artist: William Holl
Sir David Brewster, Scottish physicist, 1800s. Brewster is chiefly remembered for his lifelong investigations into optics

Joseph Jackson Lister, English wine merchant and amateur microscopist, 1830s. Artist: Maull & Co
Joseph Jackson Lister, English wine merchant and amateur microscopist, 1830s. Photographed with a microscope. Lister, father of Joseph Lister

Archimedes Burning Mirror, device used at the Siege of Syracuse, 215-212 BC (1642). A military engine devised by the Ancient Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes

Experiment showing that prismatic colours cannot be split further, 1747. From Mathematical Elements of Natural Philosophy confirm d by Experiment by Jean Theophilus Desaguliers

Isaac Newtons prism experiment showing how sunlight is split into its separate colours, 1747. English physicist and mathematician Newton (1642-1727)

Plate showing diagram of the optics of a reflecting telescope (Fig 29), 1704. English physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

The Hubble Space Telescope orbiting the Earth, c1990s. Launched in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was designed to see seven times further into space than had been possible before

Microscope by Anton Van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch, c1670. Van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) was a Dutch scientist and microscopist who was the first to observe bacteria

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