Chinese Magic Mirror

When you look at the surface of this mirror it appears perfectly smooth. However, if you point the mirror towards the sun, and obtain a reflection from it on a piece of paper, an amazingly clear image appears, as illustrated. The mechanism of formation of images like this has been a topic of interest for many years. The collection also contains a printed copy of ‘The Japanese Magic Mirror’ which is the report of a talk and demonstration by Major C.H. Montgomery given before The Magic Circle on 16 May 1949. It was published as a Supplement to ‘The Magic Circular’, July 1949.