A thaumatrope is a toy that was popular in Victorian times. A disk with a picture on each side is attached to two pieces of string. When the disk is spun quickly the two pictures appear to combine into a single image due to the optical property known as persistence of vision.
Examples of common thaumatrope pictures include a bare tree on one side of the disk, and its leaves on the other, or a bird on one side and a cage on the other. They often also included riddles or short poems, with one line on each side.
Thaumatropes were one of a number of simple, mechanical optical toys that took advantage of persistence of vision, but whose popularity faded with the development of motion pictures.
The invention of the thaumatrope is usually credited to John Ayrton Paris, an English doctor, who used one to demonstrate persistence of vision to the Royal College of Physicians in London in 1824.
Examples of common thaumatrope pictures include a bare tree on one side of the disk, and its leaves on the other, or a bird on one side and a cage on the other.
Thaumatropes were one of a number of simple, mechanical optical toys that used of persistence of vision.
Thaumatropes were the first of many optical toys, simple devices that continued to provide animated entertainment until the development of modern cinema.
A thaumatrope is a small disc, held on opposite sides of its circumference by pieces of string.
The phenakistoscope was a great improvement on the thaumatrope, creating one moving image from several stills, and became the first optical toy to create a true illusion of motion.
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