AN ARCHEOLOGY AND FUTURE OF MOVING PICTURES
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Purkyně, Jan Evangelista
b. 17. 12. 1787, Libochovice
d. 28. 6. 1869, Praha
Czech physiologist who made pioneering studies of vision, the functioning
of the brain and heart, pharmacology, embryology, and cells and tissue.
Purkinje described 1819 the visual phenomenon in which different-coloured
objects of equal brightness in certain circumstances appear to the eye
to be unequally bright; this is now called the Purkinje effect.
Purkinje was born in Libochovice, Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic),
and studied at Prague. In 1823 he was appointed professor at Breslau (now
Wroclaw in Poland) - perhaps through the influence of German poet Wolfgang
von Goethe, who had befriended him. In addition to his scientific work,
Purkinje also translated the poetry of Goethe and Friedrich von Schiller.
At Breslau, Purkinje founded the world's first official physiological
institute. In 1850, he returned to Prague University.
In 1832, he was the first to describe what are now known as Purkinje's
images: a threefold image of a single object seen by one person reflected
in the eye of another person. This effect is caused by the object being
reflected by the surface of the cornea and by the anterior and posterior
surfaces of the eye lens.
Purkinje cells are large nerve cells with numerous dendrites found in
the cortex of the cerebellum; he discovered these 1837, and the Purkinje
fibres in the ventricles of the heart 1839. Also in 1839, in describing
the contents of animal embryos, Purkinje was the first to use the term
'protoplasm' in the scientific sense.
In 1823 he recognized that fingerprints can be used as a means of identification.
He discovered the sweat glands in skin, described ciliary motion, and
observed that pancreatic extracts can digest protein. In 1837 he outlined
the principal features of the cell theory.
For a couple of years I have been interested in the theory of the so-called optical magic wheels this being but the result of my observations of the pseudo-picture (Purkinje’s term for the persistent image) carried through long ago. The pseudo-picture lasts through the wink of the eye in front of the inner sense causing that the vision of the realities viewed is uninterrupted. I succeeded to discover several modifications of the here mentioned apparatus by which the representation has been speeded up as the popularisation of the apparatus made easier after all. I have felt so much enthusiastic for that idea which I think to be of much significance not only as a branch of art but also in the respect of profit so that I decided to have it registered as a patent on the result of which I still wait in. |
| In: "Z nezname korespondence J.E.Purkyne II," edited by F.X.Halas, Universitas 87. Revue Univerzity J.E.Purkyne v Brne, vol. 20, April 1987, p. 50(?, 56?). |
| "Kinesiscope, is a
word from Greek for the instrument of physiology and physics by which
various movements of natural as well as artistic objects can be represented.
That is to say every movement is becoming in a sequence of time, in
every moment of this time the object occupies a certain spatial position
which changes while making transition into the next moment. These
changes represent themselves on a moving plane in a sequence, when
this plane then moves either in a circular or linear way so that individual
pictures occupy the same position in a highest speed and stop for
a moment there, the eye conceive them as if on the same spot changing
in time. In this way, one can achieve that even movements of all kinds
can be represented. To achieve this goal, there are various means
used, simple or more elaborated according to how this branch has evolved
with time. (…) it is especially important that the most diverse movements
of natural, historical, and artistic performances can be presented
even to a wider public, and a special branch of scientific industry
will emerge from this, useful in schools and, in general, for education
and entertainment. For instance, in the field of physics, it is possible
to present various kinds of the wave motion of liquids, sound, and
light, the most complex machines in their motion; in the field of
physiology, the motion of the heart, the blood circulation, the nerve
currents, the muscle activity; in natural history, the movement of
various animals on the ground and in the air, the most diverse play
of colors, physiognomic expressions on the human face, dramatic motions,
the growth of plants and other organic bodies, figurative representation
from all sides, which otherwise is not possible to execute on a simple
plane; in the field of history, the performances of various groupings
of human action, for instance, battles, balls, marches and others.
These performances can take place either on a smaller scale or in
any enlargement on transparent surfaces. It can be expected that thanks
to the mastery of artists this thing will become in time a special
branch of fine arts, in which it will not suffice to create only a
single moment of the evolving act, but also a complete story and complete
narrative." ("Kinesiskop," Riegruv slovník nauční, 1865) |