We all look at each other daily in front of the mirror . There are even people who, in a display of narcissism , spend hours in front of the mirror, but do you know who invented the mirror and how he did it? It is evident that since the origin of our planet, calm water has given us back the reflection and could be considered the first existing mirror, but the truth is that the mirror as we know it today, was created in Germany more than 200 years ago. so that we know more about its origin and who was its inventor.
Who Invented the Mirror and How Did He Do It?
The silver glass mirror as we know it today appeared almost 200 years ago in Germany. But long before the birth of the modern mirror in the 19th century, men had already used various techniques to reproduce its image, such as a smooth surface of polished brass and bronze.
But it was in 1835, when German chemist Justus von Liebig developed a process of applying a thin layer of metallic silver to a transparent glass panel . Later, this technique was adapted and improved to allow the mass production of mirrors.
However, it is evident that as we say, during previous centuries, human beings had already studied how to reflect their image. In fact, a 2006 study published in the scientific journal Optometry and Vision Science, revealed that in Anatolia (present-day Turkey), about 8,000 years ago, the first mirrors had already been made from the use of earth and obsidian, a volcanic rock. vitreous rich in silica.
Copper, bronze and stone
In Mesopotamia (Iraq), but also in Egypt from 4000 to 3000 years before Christ, mirrors were made of polished copper.
About 1,000 years later, in Central and South America, man began to build mirrors out of polished stone . At the same time, the Chinese and the Indians used bronze as a basic material . In the 1st century AD, the Roman author Pliny the Elder made reference to glass mirrors in his encyclopedia of natural history, although apparently they were not widely used.
It is thus shown that during all these centuries of history, various cultures have discovered and created mirrors independently of each other. However, as we have already commented at the beginning, the true inventor of the mirror must be considered nature if we take into account puddles, ponds or lakes and also as experts comment, the reflection of the water accumulated in vessels that centuries ago could undoubtedly attract , the curiosity of man.
