The History of Zoetropes

The zoetrope is a mechanical optical device invented in 1834 by William George Horner, a British mathematician. It became a popular Victorian parlor toy until it was replaced by modern film technology. In modern times, zoetropes have been displayed in public transportation stations in Brooklyn, New York; New Jersey; and Washington, D.C.

Before the Zoetrope

Horner originally called the device a daedalum, which means "wheel of the devil." It was similar to the earlier phenakistoscope (invented by Joseph Plateau in 1831), but did not require mirrors. Unlike the phenakistoscope, the daedalum could be viewed by more than one person.

How the Zoetrope Works

The zoetrope looks like a drum with an open top on a centered axis. A strip of hand-drawn pictures is attached to the bottom of the inside. When the drum is spun on its axis, the viewer looks in through slots on the side, and the pictures seem to move. Looking at the pictures through the slots keeps the images from blurring together. The faster the drum is spun, the smoother the "movie" appears.

Persistence of Motion

The zoetrope is the third optical toy, after the thaumatrope and the phenakistoscope, to use the principle of persistence of vision to create the illusion of motion. The slightly-changing pictures inside the zoetrope fool the eye into thinking that the minute changes are actually the object moving.

Patents

In 1867, the zoetrope was patented in England by M. Bradley and in the United States by William F. Lincoln. It was Lincoln who first called the device a zoetrope, which means "wheel of life."

Zoetrope Becomes Obsolete

The zoetrope lost popularity when the praxinoscope was invented by Emile Reynaud in 1877. The praxinoscope's picture was clearer and brighter than the zoetrope's.

Film

George Eastman invented flexible film in 1889, which could hold more pictures on a reel and thus longer animations. With this advance, toys such as the zoetrope were less interesting.

World's Largest Zoetrope

To promote its new 240Hz Motionflow technology in 2008, Sony built a zoetrope in Italy that's almost 33 feet in diameter called the BRAVIA-drome. Images move at speeds of up to 31 mph. and it has been touted as a way to show soccer action in a slick new media format. Guinness World Records declared this the largest zoetrope in the world.

References

• Zoetrope
• World's Largest Zoetrope

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Build Your Own Zoetrope Movie Viewer