The obscure origins of the camera obscura: Alhacén and his predecesors

Abstract

In the heart of the 21st century, we have been surprised witnesses of a coarse pinhole projection among different professionals. This fact shows that in spite of the thorough study made by specialists, the so called Camera Obscura is something that has been talked about but only a few have experimented. Without the help of a lens, the image projected by a camera is dim and not clear. Only in ideal luminous circumstances, a good hole quality and total darkness would it be possible to efficiently trace the outline of the projected image. Once this fact has been confirmed since very old times, it was only a matter of time that curiosity or a stroke of luck led to place a lens in the little opening. While all these was going on, innumerable authors devoted to study the whole process. But, nevertheless, the graphic or written evidence that have reached us, is certainly poor.

Keywords

• cámara oscura
• imagen estenopeica
• mo tzu
• aristóteles
• al-kindi
• alhacén