Praxinoscope

Description

This scientific toy with animated images relies in retinal persistence to make us believe we are seeing images in motion. The Praxinoscope was patented by the Frenchman Emile Reynaud in 1877, who was looking to overcome the deficiencies of the zoetrope, the most popular at the time. His apparatus was the first to eliminate the distorted view of the images in movement caused by insufficient light passing through the small slots of the zoetrope. This improvement in the quality of the image resulted in its immediate popularity.