The kaleidophone is a " philosophical toy" that produces moving optical figures.

History

The kaleidophone was invented by

Charles Wheatstone Sir Charles Wheatstone (; 6 February 1802 – 19 October 1875) was an English physicist and inventor best known for his contributions to the development of the Wheatstone bridge, originally invented by Samuel Hunter Christie, which is used to m ...

, who published an account of the device in 1827. The name "kaleidophone" was derived from the

kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a symmetrical pattern when viewed fro ...

, an optical toy invented in 1817 by

David Brewster Sir David Brewster Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order, KH President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, PRSE Fellow of the Royal Society of London, FRS Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, FSA Scot Fellow of the Scottish Society of ...

. Wheatstone's

photometer A photometer is an instrument that measures the strength of electromagnetic radiation in the range from ultraviolet to infrared and including the visible spectrum. Most photometers convert light into an electric current using a photoresistor, ...

was probably suggested by this appliance. The photometer enables two lights to be compared by the relative brightness of their reflections in a silvered bead, which describes a narrow ellipse, so as to draw the spots into parallel lines. There are several different versions of the kaleidophone, but in all cases at least one slender rod is fixed at one end and has a shiny bead fixed to the other end of the rod. As the rod vibrates the spot is seen to describe Lissajous curves in the air, like a spark whirled about in the darkness.

References

External links

*{{Commons category-inline Optical toys English inventions 1820s toys Patterns 19th-century inventions Traditional toys