The Early History of Motion Pictures Motion pictures and television are possible because of two quirks of the human perceptual system: the phi phenomenon and persistence of vision. The phi phenomenon refers to what happens when a person sees one light sources go out while another one close to the original is illuminated. To our eyes, it looks like the light moves from one place to another. In persistence of vision, our eyes continue to see an image for a spit second after the image has disappeared from view. First observed by the ancient Greeks, persistence of vision became more widely known in 1824 when Peter Roget(who also developed the thesaurus) demonstrated that human begins retain an image of an object for about one-tenth of a second after the object is taken from view. Following Roget’s pronouncement, a host of toys that depended on this principle sprang up in Europe. Bearing fanciful manes (the Thaumatrope, the Praxinoscope), these devices made a series of hand-drawn pictures appear to move. According to paragraph 1, what is the phi phenomenon? •A.The appearance of movement that occurs when one light is turned offwhile another lights up nearby•B.The tendency to see two lights placed close together as coming froma single light source•C.The fact that the human eye sees a light source for a split second afterit has disappeared•D.The impression that there are several light sources when there isactually only oneAccording to paragraph 1, which of the following statements does NOT correctly describe persistence of vision? •A.It was originally noticed by the ancient Greeks•B.It refers to an image of an object seen by the human eye for one-tenthof a second after the object has disappeared•C.It is a scientific principle that was already widely accepted before PeterRoget demonstrated its validity•D.It provided the basis for a number of European toys, including theThaumatrope and the PraxinoscopeThe word “pronouncement” in the passage is closest in meaning to •A.statement•B.advice•C.theory•D.experimentBefore long, several people realized that a series of still photographs on celluloid film could be used instead of hand drawing. In 1878 a colorful Englishman later turned American. Edward Muybridge, attempted to settle a $25.000 bet over whether the four feet of a galloping horse ever simultaneously left the ground. He arranged a series of 24 cameras alongside a racetrack to photograph a galloping horse. Rapidly viewing the series of pictures produced an effect much like that of a motion picture. Muybirdge’s technique not only settled the bet (the feet did leave the ground simultaneously at certain instances) but also photography. Instead of 24 cameras talking one pictures in rapid order, it was Thomas Edison and his assistant, William Dickson, who finally developed what might have been the first practical motion-picture...
