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Magic lantern
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===Steganographic mirror=== [[File:1645 kircher - steganographia.jpg|thumb|Illustration of Kircher's Steganographic mirror in his 1645 book ''Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae'']] The 1645 first edition of German Jesuit scholar [[Athanasius Kircher]]'s book ''[[Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae]]'' included a description of his invention, the "Steganographic Mirror": a primitive projection system with a focusing lens and text or pictures painted on a concave mirror reflecting sunlight, mostly intended for long-distance communication. Kircher saw limitations in the increase of size and diminished clarity over a long distance and expressed his hope that someone would find a method to improve on this.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kircher |first=Athanasius |url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_zev001199401_01/_zev001199401_01_0033.php |title=Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae |publisher=Sumptibus Hermanni Scheus |year=1645 |location=Rome, Italy |page=912}}</ref> In ''Magia universalis'', Schott also relates how many were using Kircher's technique to exhibit wondrous things to enthousiastic audiences. For instance, the Belgian Jesuit mathematician [[André Tacquet]] had shown missionary [[Martino Martini]]'s complete journey from China to Belgium (when Martini was in Leuven in 1654).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Golvers |first=Noël |date=1994 |title=De recruteringstocht van M. Martini, S.J. door de Lage Landen in 1654: Over geomantische kompassen, Chinese verzamelingen, lichtbeelden en R.P. Wilhelm van Aelst, S.J. |trans-title=The Recruitment Journey of M. Martini, S.J. through the Low Countries in 1654: About geomantic compasses, Chinese collections, light images and R.P. Wilhelm van Aelst, S.J. |url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_zev001199401_01/index.php |journal=De Zeventiende Eeuw |language=nl |volume=10}}</ref> Some reports say that Martini lectured throughout Europe with a magic lantern, which he might have imported from China, but there's no evidence that it used anything other than Kircher's technique. However, Tacquet was a correspondent and friend of [[Christiaan Huygens]] and may thus have been a very early adapter of the magic lantern technique that Huygens developed around this period.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rossell |first=Deac |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/315395149 |title=Laterna Magica = Magic Lantern |publisher=Füsslin Verlag |year=2008 |isbn=978-3-940769-00-8 |volume=1 |location=Stuttgart, Germany |page=19 |oclc=315395149}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Replicating 18th Century Magic Lantern Practice|first1=Wolfgang|last1=Engels|first2=Klaus|last2=Staubermann|journal=Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society|issue=130|date=2016|page=40|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/76946022.pdf|via=CORE}}</ref>
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