History of Spherical Mirrors in Human Civilization
1. In ancient times people used to see their reflection in water and thus use it to groom themselves.
2. In stone age, polished stones replaced the pool of water. Obsidian is the required stone which occur naturally in volcanic eruption.
3. When metals were found & people got to know about its usage, then these stones were replaced by metal mirrors. Mirrors of polished copper were crafted in Mesopotamia from 4000 B.C. and in ancient Egypt from around 3000 B.C.
4. As metal & stone mirrors does not provide the desired result hence Chinese people started making mirrors using silver mercury amalgams.
5. Venice in 16th century, became the centre of mirror production using this new technique.
6. Parabolic mirrors were described and studied in classical antiquity by the mathematician Diodes in his work on burning mirrors.
7. Ptolemy conducted a number of experiments with curved polished iron mirrors. He also discussed plane, convex, concave and spherical mirrors in his optics.
8. The invention of the silvered - glass mirror is created to German Chemist Justus Von Liebig in 1835.
