Camera lucida
Cámara lúcida
- Date
- 1806 · confidence high
- Place
- London, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- William Hyde Wollaston
- Field
- Communication
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
An instrument with a four-sided prism that superimposes the image of the object and the paper in the eye, so that the draughtsman can trace it with a pencil. It was used in scientific drawing and microscopy.
Kepler already described a similar scheme in the Dioptrice (1611); Wollaston patented it and made it practical. The origin of the idea is debated.
What it led to
- more accurate scientific and topographic drawing
- the inspiration for Talbot's photography (1833)
- microscope drawing