|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
stereoscope
stereoscope , optical instrument that presents to a viewer two slightly differing pictures, one to each eye, to give the effect of depth. In normal vision the two eyes, being a certain distance apart, see slightly different aspects of a scene. The impression of depth is obtained when the brain combines the images. A single photograph shows no more than what one eye would see. In a stereoscope two photographs, taken from positions related approximately as the positions of a person's two eyes, are placed side by side. When a person observes these photographs, his brain combines the separate images from each eye into a single three-dimensional one. Scientists, among them the English physicist Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1838, constructed stereoscopes for use with drawings, but suitable views were not generally available until the development of photography. In 1849, Sir David Brewster, a Scottish physicist, improved the stereoscope and invented the double camera for taking stereoscopic views. Oliver Wendell Holmes invented the kind of stereoscope that, together with a collection of stereoscopic views, became a popular instrument of home entertainment in the United States until the advent of the home phonograph and the radio. The principle of the stereoscope is applied in binocular field glasses and binocular microscopes. |
|
|
Cite this article
"stereoscope." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "stereoscope." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-stereosc.html "stereoscope." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-stereosc.html |
|
stereoscope
ster·e·o·scope / ˈsterēəˌskōp; ˈsti(ə)r-/ • n. a device by which two photographs of the same object taken at slightly different angles are viewed together, creating an impression of depth and solidity. DERIVATIVES: ster·e·o·scop·ic / ˌsterēəˈskäpik; ˌsti(ə)r-/ adj. ster·e·o·scop·i·cal·ly adv. ster·e·os·co·py / ˌsterēˈäskəpē; ˌsti(ə)r-/ n. |
|
|
Cite this article
"stereoscope." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "stereoscope." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-stereoscope.html "stereoscope." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-stereoscope.html |
|
stereoscope
stereoscope Optical device that produces an apparently three-dimensional image by presenting two slightly different plane images, usually photographs, to each eye. Some modern stereoscopes use polarized light (light waves with electromagnetic vibrations in only one direction) to project images that are viewed through polarized filters.
|
|
|
Cite this article
"stereoscope." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "stereoscope." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-stereoscope.html "stereoscope." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-stereoscope.html |
|
stereoscope
stereoscope An optical device which allows a pair of overlapping, two-dimensional photographs to be examined with three-dimensional (stereoptic) vision, thus permitting more detailed interpretation.
|
|
|
Cite this article
AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "stereoscope." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "stereoscope." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-stereoscope.html AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "stereoscope." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-stereoscope.html |
|
stereoscope
stereoscope
•aslope, cope, dope, elope, grope, hope, interlope, lope, mope, nope, ope, pope, rope, scope, slope, soap, taupe, tope, trope
•myope • telescope • periscope
•stereoscope • bioscope • stroboscope
•kaleidoscope • CinemaScope
•gyroscope • microscope • horoscope
•stethoscope • antelope • envelope
•zoetrope • skipping-rope • tightrope
•towrope • heliotrope • lycanthrope
•philanthrope • thaumatrope
•misanthrope
•isotope, radioisotope
|
|
|
Cite this article
"stereoscope." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "stereoscope." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-stereoscope.html "stereoscope." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-stereoscope.html |
|