The View of Edinburgh in Different Ways by Using the Principle of Camera Obscura - Research Paper Example

According to Edinburgh’s Camera obscura (2000), the principle of camera obscura started in Greece when Aristotle realized that when light reached into a dark room. This follows the penetration of a minute hole; thus, leading to the formation of an image on the opposite hole. However, the principle could have been applicable earlier than this since the Stone Age man could have used it for the production of the initial art (Michelson & Allen 2003). Later, Al Hassan used the camera obscure to demonstrate that light rays do not bend, and that was in the 10th century.

In the 13th century, the astronomers used the principle to get a clear view of the sun. Later, many artists started employing the camera obscura for the creation of drawings with fine details. For this reason, mobile cameras that were portable were made further simplifying the aspects attributable to such a phenomenon. In the Victorian period, camera obscura became popular, and people used it on the seaside to see courting couples, which was a popular pastime (Edinburgh’s Camera obscura 2000).

By the 15th century, the using camera obscura in making solar observation became a common practice among astronomers. The initially published illustration of the camera obscura was evident in a book by Reinerus Gemma who was an astronomer. According to Marsh (2003), the image in the book was of the solar eclipse, which he viewed at Louvain, reflected on the wall of an old pavilion. Currently, cities use it to spy their visitors as they move around the cities.