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Historical outline of optics
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The attempts to understand the nature of light and the mechanism of vision date back to antiquity. However, the main efforts to define the foundations of theoretical optics did not begin until the seventeenth century, when microscopes and telescopes were gaining acceptance as essential instruments for scientific observation.

Kepler clarified some fundamental concepts of geometrical optics and presented a rigorous theory of optical instruments. Snell studied diffraction phenomena, which Descartes reduced to a precise mathematical law. The phenomenon of diffraction, already observed by Grimaldi, was studied by Hooke, who proposed a wave theory of light. Huygens regarded light as a disturbance of "ether," an impalpable medium composed of elastic particles capable of propagating impulses. The velocity of light—considered infinite for centuries—was estimated with good approximation by Römer in 1676. Newton, whose treatises remained fundamental for the development of eighteenth-century optics, decomposed sunlight into the colors of the spectrum by means of a prism.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, experimental optics was still relying on instruments of modest quality. Mirrors of various types, lenses, prisms, glass polyhedrons, adjustable slits, and diaphragms were often mounted on pedestals or pivoted on rudimentary optical benches. The quality of the glass itself still left much to be desired: it was often uneven, slightly colored, and filled with bubbles.

Objects
Accessories for an optical bench

Accessories for an optical bench

Inv. 782/bis
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Adjustable slit

Adjustable slit

Inv. 2569
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Adjustable slit

Adjustable slit

Inv. 3199
Gaspero Mazzeranghi, Florence, second half 18th cent.

Anamorphoses

Anamorphoses

Inv. 490
Maker unknown, 17th cent.

Apparatus for angles of incidence and reflection

Apparatus for angles of incidence and reflection

Inv. 2738
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Apparatus for angles of incidence and reflection

Apparatus for angles of incidence and reflection

Inv. 635
Maker unknown, 18th cent.

Burning mirror

Burning mirror

Inv. 3727
Maker unknown, 18th cent.

Burning mirror

Burning mirror

Inv. 791
Maker unknown, 18th cent.

Double diaphragm

Double diaphragm

Inv. 738
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Glass cone

Glass cone

Inv. 2617
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Glass polyhedron

Glass polyhedron

Inv. 2622
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Glass polyhedron

Glass polyhedron

Inv. 3181
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Glass polyhedron

Glass polyhedron

Inv. 2623
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Lens of Archduke Leopold of Lorraine

Lens of Archduke Leopold of Lorraine

Inv. 3561
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Lens with central bore

Lens with central bore

Inv. 2596
Maker unknown, early 18th cent.

Lens with mount

Lens with mount

Inv. 1339
Maker unknown, late 18th cent.

Lens with mount

Lens with mount

Inv. 2583
Maker unknown, late 18th cent.

Lens with mount

Lens with mount

Inv. 2595
Maker unknown, 17th cent.

Lens with mount

Lens with mount

Inv. 749
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Lens with mount

Lens with mount

Inv. 784
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Lens with mount

Lens with mount

Inv. 2630
Maker unknown, late 17th cent.

Lens with mount

Lens with mount

Inv. 2586
Maker unknown, 16th cent.

Lens with mount

Lens with mount

Inv. 760
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Lens with mount

Lens with mount

Inv. 764
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Lens with stand

Lens with stand

Inv. 761
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Mobile diaphragm

Mobile diaphragm

Inv. 2568
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Mounted glass cone

Mounted glass cone

Inv. 771
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Mounted prism

Mounted prism

Inv. 743
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Mounted prism

Mounted prism

Inv. 774
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Mounted prism

Mounted prism

Inv. 744
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Mounted prismatic lens

Mounted prismatic lens

Inv. 768
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Mounted prismatic lens

Mounted prismatic lens

Inv. 770
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Mounted prismatic lens

Mounted prismatic lens

Inv. 769
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Optical toy

Optical toy

Inv. 3196
Jean-François Niceron, 1642

Optical toy

Optical toy

Inv. 3197
Ludovico Buti, Italian, 1593

Optical toy

Optical toy

Inv. 3688
Artist unknown, 17th cent.

Pair of framed prisms

Pair of framed prisms

Inv. 741
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Prism with stand

Prism with stand

Inv. 742
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Prism with stand

Prism with stand

Inv. 745
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Prism with stand

Prism with stand

Inv. 748
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Prism with stand

Prism with stand

Inv. 773
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Prism with stand

Prism with stand

Inv. 746
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Prismatic lens with mount

Prismatic lens with mount

Inv. 2613
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Prismatic lens with mount

Prismatic lens with mount

Inv. 2614
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Rotating diaphragm

Rotating diaphragm

Inv. 2567
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.

Solar mirror

Solar mirror

Inv. 3228
Maker unknown, Italian?, first half 19th cent.