We see others in front of us. Can others see themselves as we see them in front of us? Yes, they can see themselves with a mirror held in front of them! When a baby sees first its own face in a mirror, it will be some another person or an object; but later, it understands, learns and identifies it as its own image!
Mirror receives visible light rays coming from a person standing before it and reflects them back to him as it is, without any alteration. So, he sees himself in the mirror as others see him. With wonder to know what the mirror is made up of, I opened the frame of a mirror in my childhood. As I removed the padding on its back, I saw nothing but a reddish yellow paint on its backside! Later I learnt that it is a layer of silver laid on the glass plate and then coated with a scratch-preventing paint over it. A clear and good glass having a smooth and even surface is the basic component of a mirror; but the glass itself doesn't have much reflecting power; it needs the reflecting coating of a metal. Present day mirrors have evolved through centuries of research and developments from a polished stone (Obsidian), through polished metals and several modifications of the nature of glass.
The ancient man might have been in terror on seeing a monster on the floor of a cave that was 'created' by the wonder (water) mirror - with his own wonder face!
No comments:
Post a Comment