Parallax experiment
Date
1613
Creator
Theodor Galle (1571 - 1633, Flemish) , Engraver
After
Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640, Flemish) , Draughtsman
Object type
Library reference
RCN 24525
Material
Technique
Subject
Description
Illustration from the title page of the fourth book of Opticorum libri sex (Six Books of Optics) by Flemish mathematician and physicist François d'Aguilon (1567-1617). The vignette, engraved after an original drawing by Peter Paul Rubens, shows a man observing a small object with each eye in turn and noting the position it appears relative to the background.
The robed man is assisted by three putti, male childlike angels, and is kneeling by an ornate table. He is holding a rod topped with a small sphere on the table and is focussing on the sphere with one eye at a time. The experiment demonstrates the phenomenon of parallax, where the position of an object appears to shift relative to its surroundings when viewed from a different angle.
François d'Aguilon (1567-1617), Flemish mathematician and physicist, was not a Fellow of the Royal Society.
The robed man is assisted by three putti, male childlike angels, and is kneeling by an ornate table. He is holding a rod topped with a small sphere on the table and is focussing on the sphere with one eye at a time. The experiment demonstrates the phenomenon of parallax, where the position of an object appears to shift relative to its surroundings when viewed from a different angle.
François d'Aguilon (1567-1617), Flemish mathematician and physicist, was not a Fellow of the Royal Society.