Zoetrope (Dædaleum)
Zoótropo (Dædaleum)
- Date
- 1834 · confidence high
- Place
- Bristol, England
- Credited to
- William George Horner
- Field
- Communication
What it is
Mathematician Horner adapted Plateau's phenakistiscope into a spinning cylindrical format with side slits, which he called the Dædaleum: spinning it makes the sequence of drawings inside appear to move. The name "zoetrope," by which it is known today, was given later by William F. Lincoln when he patented a commercial version in the 1860s.
What it led to
- Popularization of the zoetrope as a Victorian optical toy
- Direct precedent for animation and cinema (praxinoscope, cinematograph)