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Humans are fascinated by mirrors and their mysterious powers of reflection. These mysteries have now been explained by science in terms of the properties of light beams. Papers published in the scientific field of optics use phrases such as ‘angle of incidence’ and ‘specular reflection’ to explain how bouncing beams of light can make another world appear through the looking glass. Let’s take a look at how technology has refined the reflective surface over the last few centuries.
The Earliest Reflective Surfaces
Water was the first reflective surface that humans would have been aware of. The moving sea mimics the colour of the sky: blue on sunny days, grey on cloudy days. A deep still pond can provide perfect reflection under the right conditions. The myth of Narcissus from Greek mythology tells the fate of a young man seeing his reflection in a pond.
Creating Reflective Surfaces
Rough surfaces provide diffuse reflection. Light comes through the window and bounces off your interior walls, but you do not typically see reflections of the world outside on your walls. To achieve this effect you need a much smoother surface. The earliest mirrors were made of highly polished metal. Bronze and silver were particularly prized for their reflective qualities.
Perfecting Reflective Surfaces
Metal mirrors were all very well, but they tended to be small as an increase in weight made larger sizes impractical. Early experiments with glass mirrors took place in Roman times. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that uniformly flat glass and a thin sheet of reflective metal (a tin/mercury amalgam in these early mirrors) were combined to form the early modern mirror. The Venetians, famed for their glass work during the Renaissance, quickly established themselves as the pre-eminent mirror producers of Europe.
Mass-Producing Reflective Surfaces
Finally, in the 19th Century, the method of adding silver nitrate to glass was developed by German chemist Justus Von Liebig and mirrors began to drop in price. These days every home and handbag boasts a mirror or two. Largely thanks to the advances pioneered by Von Liebig, we can see our own reflections whenever we fancy it.
Do you love looking at your own reflection? Choose the perfect mirror or mirrors to be incorporated into your fitted wardrobe when you design your own bespoke bedroom furniture with Mirror Image Ltd. Call into one of our showrooms in Norwich or Cambridge for a chat with our sales team. You can call us on 01603 417577 to find out more.
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