The Void. kaleidoscope, n.

The Void Magazine.  Volume 6, Issue 3, February 2007
Kaleidoscope, n.
Kaleidoscope, n.

The kaleidoscope was invented in 1816. ‘Kaleidoscope’ was first used as a word in 1817 by Scottish inventor Dr. David Brewster in his patent for the object. He named it for the Greek words for beautiful (kalos) and form (eidos).  The -scope suffix comes from the Greek skopein – to see.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the kaleidoscope is as “an optical instrument, consisting of from two to four reflecting surfaces placed in a tube, at one end of which is a small compartment containing pieces of coloured glass: on looking through the tube, numerous reflections of these are seen, producing brightly-coloured symmetrical figures, which may be constantly altered by rotation of the instrument.”

Brewster originally designed the kaleidoscope as a scientific tool to test light polarization but when he noticed it’s enchanting patterns his instrument produced, he turned it into a toy. Brewster sought his patent expecting to get rich mesmerizing children. The kaleidoscope enjoyed an initial burst of popularity, but, for reasons unknown, the light-toy was soon relegated to the shadows.

The kaleidoscope-fad was re-awakened by American Charles Bush in 1873. Bush received the patent to improve the original model and created a parlor version which was mounted on a wooden stand.  But this optical toy faded into obscurity until it was resurrected once more by Cozy Baker who has been writing books on the subject since 1985, with such titles as Through the Kaleidoscope… and Beyond and Kaleidoscopes: Wonders of Wonder. Baker founded the Brewster Kaleidoscope Society in 1986 for kaleidoscope enthusiasts. The Brewster Society currently lists 133 kaleidoscope artists and boasts over 500 members.

The first kaleidoscope to be used in literature is the one in the second canto of Lord Byron’s poem, “Don Juan”:

“Our shipwreck’d seamen thought it a good omen –
It is as well to think so, now and then;
‘T was an old custom of the Greek and Roman,
And may become of great advantage when
Folks are discouraged; and most surely no men
Had greater need to nerve themselves again
Than these, and so this rainbow look’d like hope –
Quite a celestial kaleidoscope.”

In this article the word kaleidoscope is used 16 times.

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