The thaumatrope is an optical toy from the 19th century that provides the illusion of motion. It consists of a disk with a different picture on each side, attached to two pieces of string. When the strings are quickly twirled, it appears the two images combine into one moving picture. While John Ayrton published the first description of the thaumatrope in 1825, some credit Charles Babbage as the true inventor of this early animation device that entertained many in the Victorian era.

1. GROUP 1
Thaumatrope

2. Thaumatrope
 A thaumatrope is an optical toy that was popular in
the 19th century.
 From a Greek word that means “ wonder turner ’’
 A disk with a picture on each side which attached to two
pieces of string
 Provides an illusion of motion when
strings are twirled quickly.

3. THAUMATROPE EXAMPLES

4. INVENTION

5. 1825

6. John Ayrton
Paris, FRS (1785 – 24
December 1856) was
a British physician. He is
most widely remembered
as a possible inventor of
the thaumatrope, which
he published with W.
Phillips in April 1825.

7. 1864

8. Charles Babbage
William Henry Fitton
(Geologist)
Father of Computer
- True Inventor of
Traumatrope

9. THAUMATROPES IN
POPULAR CULTURE

10. In the 2013
video game
"BioShock
Infinite" the
bird and the
cage
thaumatrope is
used several
times.

11. In the 2011 Martin
Scorsese film Hug
o, the final scene
begins in the
middle of a
conversation
about cinema
precursors,
including the
thaumatrope.

12. THE END