Mirror invented who? History of the mirror. In which country did they invent the mirror?

Mirrors, as a rule, are made of glass, which has a reflective coating. They are used not only in everyday life, but also in production, and are an important component of many scientific instruments, such as telescopes, industrial equipment, video cameras and lasers. People first saw their reflection in pools of water, streams, river surface, which became the first mirrors - so began their long history.

Mirror History of the Ancient World

The earliest artificial mirrors were made of polished black volcanic glass - obsidian, - which was processed in the form of a circle. Some samples of such mirrors were found in Turkey. Their age is attributed to 6000 BC.

In which country did they invent the mirror? The earliest man-made reflectors in the form of pieces of polished obsidian were found in Anatolia - modern Turkey. The ancient Egyptians used polished brass for the production of mirrors, the reverse side was decorated with ornaments. The ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia also made polished metal mirrors, and reflective surfaces of polished stone appeared in Central and South America about two thousand years BC. E. In the process of appearance of this common today, whole civilizations took part.

Where did they invent the mirror? In which country? It is believed that made with a metal back with glass, they first appeared in Lebanon's Sidon in the first century of our era. The first glass mirrors were produced in I year AD by the Romans - from a blown glass with lead substrates. Glass reflectors were first made in the third century of our era.

The invention of the method of blowing glass in the XIV century led to the discovery of convex mirrors, which further increased their popularity.

Stone Mirrors of Central America

This accessory was considered one of the most important religious artifacts in the famous culture of Central America. In which country did they invent the mirror? For centuries and millennia, the cultures of Central America and Mesoamerica have acquired specific traditions and religious rituals in relation to reflective surfaces. One of the most common beliefs practiced in Maya, Aztecs and Tarasco is the belief that mirrors serve as portals for interaction with gods and otherworldly forces.

This ancient tradition of early beliefs still considers any smooth water surface a powerful tool for divination. The mirrors created at that time in Mesoamerica were first made from a single piece of iron ore, which was polished to a high degree of reflectivity. Later, other materials appeared and larger and complex products. One of the most popular examples of culture is the classical Mesoamerica - mosaic pyrite mirrors, which were widely used in the famous city of Teotihuacan.

China: bronze mirrors

Where did they invent the mirror? In which country? It is quite difficult to answer this question unequivocally. The history of the mirror covers the last 8000 years of modern development, but one of the most important representatives of this so familiar nowadays accessory were the Chinese bronze reflectors, the first appearance of which is attributed to the year 2900 BC. E.

In which country did they invent the mirror? In China, the reflectors were made of metal alloys, a mixture of tin and copper, called a mirror metal, which was highly polished and had an excellent reflective surface, as well as polished bronze. Reflectors from metal alloys or precious metals were considered very valuable items in antiquity and were available only to very rich people.

But the Egyptians quickly moved from bronze to other materials - this polished obsidian, used in 4000 BC. E., Polished selenite, as well as various alloys of copper. China began the production of mirrors using mercury amalgam as early as 500 AD, but at the same time continued to improve the art of making bronze products. They remained in use until the XVII-XIX century, when Western travelers brought modern mirrors to the country.

Mirror Luxury of Venice

In the Middle Ages, the glass mirrors completely disappeared. In those days, religious denominations declared that the devil looks at the world from the opposite side of the reflecting surface. Poor women of fashion had to use metal polished surfaces or replace them with special bowls for water. Glass mirrors returned only in the XIII century. It was then that Holland developed a handicraft manufacturing technology for these products. Then - in Flanders and in German Nuremberg, where in 1373 the first workshop for manufacturing such mirrors was organized.

Where did they invent the mirror? In which country? So at once you will not tell. With the help of the available technologies, the master glaziers poured hot tin into glass baths, and then, when the tin cooled, they divided it into separate pieces. John Pekam, a member of the Order of the Franciscans, described in 1279 this method, but such a mirror invented by someone - the story is unlikely to remember. Venetian masters came up with the "technique of a flat mirror" only three centuries later. They found a way to attach the tin to the flat surface of the glass. In 1407, the Venetians, the brothers Danzalo del Gallo, bought a patent from Flemish masters, and Venice retained a monopoly on the production of excellent Venetian mirrors a century and a half. In addition, the masters themselves have created a special reflective mixture, in which were added gold and bronze. Because of her, all the objects reflected in the mirrors looked much more beautiful than in reality. The cost of one Venetian mirror was then comparable to that of a large warship. During the Renaissance in Europe, reflectors were made by coating glass with tin and mercury amalgam. In the sixteenth century, Venice became the center of production for such mirrors. The factory for their manufacture under the name of Saint-Gobain was created and in France.

About mirrors and mysticism in Russia

In Russia, mirrors were considered a devilish invention. In 1666 the Orthodox Church forbade their use by priests. Since that time, many superstitions about mirrors have appeared. Today, many of them seem ridiculous and naive to us, but people took it very seriously. A broken mirror, for example, was a sign of bad luck for seven years. That's why the man who broke or broke him first apologized for his awkwardness, and then had to bury the fragments according to all the rituals. Mirror-talismans were used to repel death. It used to be a common practice to cover all the reflecting surfaces when someone in the house died. It was believed that this would not allow the soul of the deceased to be trapped in one of the mirrors, the devil.

The first reflecting devices in Germany

In the city of Nuremberg (Germany) in 1373 the first mirror plant was opened. And these accessories have been actively used in all spheres of life. And in the XVI century mirrors become part of mystical rituals and mysterious witchcraft.

Who invented the mirror? Country: Germany? In 1835 Justus von Liebig, a German chemist, developed silver-plated glass reflectors where a thin metallic layer was applied to the glass by chemical reduction of silver nitrate. This invention made it possible to produce such products on a much larger scale, and for the first time in history ordinary people could buy a mirror. In which country did they invent the mirror? Wikipedia tells only about the facts of history. We can only compare.

Secret Application

For two centuries, the property of reflexivity was used by spies from Spain and France to encode and decipher confidential messages. This secret coding system was invented in the 15th century by Leonardo da Vinci. The scriptures were coded in "mirror image", so without such a surface it was impossible to read the message. Mirrors were part of another great invention of that time - a periscope. The opportunity to watch the enemy imperceptibly through a system of interacting reflective lenses saved lives in wartime. In the Thirty Years' War, mirrors were used to dazzle the enemy during combat with an intense reflection of the sun's rays. It was very difficult to aim, when eyes were blinded by thousands of tiny reflectors.

Mirrors made a long journey throughout history. Today you can not find a house without this simple thing. They have long become part of everyday routine, often underestimated. We should always respect the aspects of the historical development of mirrors and appreciate the incredible aesthetic significance of our own reflection.