Alhazen's problem
Date
26 June 1669
Creator
Unknown, Artist
Object type
Archive reference number
Manuscript page number
p1
Material
Dimensions
height (page): 205mm
width (page): 160mm
width (page): 160mm
Subject
Description
This is a figure relating to Christian Huygens's treatment of Alhazen's problem, which was enclosed with his letter to Henry Oldenburg dated 26 June 1669. The problem attributed to Alhazen (the Latinized name of Ibn al-Haytham (965-1045)) is to find a point of reflection on the surface of a spherical mirror in relation to two points, the eye and the visible object.
The diagram and text are printed using a method that Huygens claimed he had invented, making the acid bite all the way through the plate and inking over it, as with a stencil.
Christopher Wren had come up with a similar copying method earlier in 1662.
The diagram and text are printed using a method that Huygens claimed he had invented, making the acid bite all the way through the plate and inking over it, as with a stencil.
Christopher Wren had come up with a similar copying method earlier in 1662.
Object history
C. Huygens and R. F. Slusius, 'Some letters exchanged between Monsieur Slusius and Monsier Hugenius, about a considerable optic problem (the point of reflection in a concave and convex mirror) of Alhazen', Phil. Trans., vol. 8, no. 97 (October 1673), pp. 6119-26, tab. 2, fig. 1.
The covering letter dated 26 June 1669, ElL/H1/64, is transcribed and translated in The Correspondence of Henry Oldenburg, ed. by A. Rupert Hall and Marie Boas Hall, 13 vols (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press; London: Taylor and Francis, 1965-86), vol. 6, 42-46 (no. 1213). The editors note that the enclosure regarding the solution to Alhazen's problem, with figures printed using a 'new' method devised by Huygens himself, is no longer found in the Royal Society's archives. However, this is the enclosure that accompanied the original letter.
The covering letter dated 26 June 1669, ElL/H1/64, is transcribed and translated in The Correspondence of Henry Oldenburg, ed. by A. Rupert Hall and Marie Boas Hall, 13 vols (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press; London: Taylor and Francis, 1965-86), vol. 6, 42-46 (no. 1213). The editors note that the enclosure regarding the solution to Alhazen's problem, with figures printed using a 'new' method devised by Huygens himself, is no longer found in the Royal Society's archives. However, this is the enclosure that accompanied the original letter.
Related fellows
Christiaan Huygens (1629 - 2006, Dutch) , Natural philosopher
Henry Oldenburg (1612 - 1677, German) , Scientific correspondent
Henry Oldenburg (1612 - 1677, German) , Scientific correspondent
Associated place