Mohist optics (pinhole image and mirrors)
Óptica del Canon mohista (cámara oscura y espejos)
- Date
- c. 400-300 BCE · confidence low
- Place
- Tengzhou, Shandong, China
- Credited to
- Mohist school (Mozi and disciples)
- Field
- Communication
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
The Mohist Canon explains that light travels in straight lines, that the image behind a small aperture is inverted, and how flat, concave and convex mirrors form images. It is the oldest written description of the pinhole camera.
A corrupted text of imprecise dating (4th-3rd centuries BCE). Aristotle described the phenomenon shortly afterwards; Alhazen (c. 1021) would carry out the systematic analysis.
What it led to
- conception of the rectilinear propagation of light
- study of burning mirrors and images in Han China