"Appearance of the Thaumatrope in rotation." From "Popular Scientific Recreations" by Gaston Tissandier (ca. 1890).
The thaumatrope was a popular 19th century toy. A disk with a picture on each side is attached to two pieces of string. In this example, the cage is on one side and the bird is on the other. When the strings are twirled quickly between the fingers the two pictures appear to blend into one due to the persistence of vision. Here is a 21st century example: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD0ovANHdqQ
"Appearance of the Thaumatrope in rotation." From "Popular Scientific Recreations" by Gaston Tissandier (ca. 1890).
The thaumatrope was a popular 19th century toy. A disk with a picture on each side is attached to two pieces of string. In this example, the cage is on one side and the bird is on the other. When the strings are twirled quickly between the fingers the two pictures appear to blend into one due to the persistence of vision. Here is a 21st century example: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD0ovANHdqQ