Can you imagine a workshop or lecture without PowerPoint? The now almost forgotten magic lantern was the PowerPoint of the nineteenth century. This glass plate projector played a major role in spreading science.
Making science accessible to a wide audience. It sounds like a modern idea and it is, for example, what NEMO Kennislink does. But it's not that modern at all. In the nineteenth century it was even quite normal for scientists to give lectures about their research or field outside the lecture hall. These lectures were not so much intended for the elite, but rather to 'elevate' the middle class.
A popular instrument for dressing these lectures was the Laterna Magica or the magic lantern. With this device, scientists were able to project painted or printed images – and from about 1880 also black-and-white photos – on glass plates enlarged on a projection surface or light wall.
Dutch invention?
As far as we know, the magic lantern has a Dutch origin, although the discussion about this is still in full swing. Frank Kessler, professor of media history at Utrecht University:“The Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens is most likely the first to have built a projection lantern. Older drawings are known, but these contain design errors. In practice, these designs could never have worked.”
The term magic lantern dates from the seventeenth century, the time of Huygens. Projecting images had never been seen before except for the shadow play, so there was definitely something magical about it. Not only scientists started using this wonderful device. Painters in the seventeenth century, for example, learned to paint with depth using projected pictures. The magic lantern also became a source of entertainment. You could come and see the pictures at fairs for a fee.
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Together with a colleague, Kessler is currently investigating the transfer of scientific knowledge using the lantern. The use of the lantern became more and more popular in science, especially from 1900. “The reason for this is logical”, according to Kessler. “With the arrival of electricity in the lecture hall, professors and lecturers no longer had to work with gaslight. They could simply plug into the socket. That made using the lantern a lot more practical.”
Professors therefore frequently used the lantern in the lecture halls, at lectures for colleagues or for a wide audience. Also contributing to the lantern's popularity was the change in teaching methods. Pedagogues in this period (1890-1920) believed that students should not only receive theoretical education. By showing objects and images, they could be brought into closer contact with reality. Sight began to play a major role in the lecture hall and the lantern was a suitable tool.
Especially in studies such as geology, astronomy, medicine or art history, teachers started showing a lot of images via the lantern, explains Kessler. “Geologists, for example, showed pictures they had taken on previous expeditions and doctors in training were shown microscopic views of germs in the lecture room.”
Comparative study
Using the lantern is reminiscent of the current PowerPoint presentation. However, it appears to have had a greater impact on science, Kessler said. “Precisely because scientists had not been able to illustrate their story in this way before, the lantern ensured a different transfer of knowledge. For example, the German art historian Herman Grimm (1828-1901) wrote that in his lectures on the painter Rafael, the paintings became the starting point with the advent of the lantern. Before that, his lectures were more indirectly about the paintings, for example about discussions or theories about the works.”
The way scientists conducted research also changed. If we stick to the example of the art historians, you see that they could only really compare paintings with the help of the lantern, because they could now project two side by side.
Impact
Lectures with 'images of light' became fashionable in the mid-nineteenth century, and not only among scientists. Liberal associations, such as the Maatschappij tot Nut van 't Algemeen, or associations that fought against alcohol or provided information about hygiene, use the lantern to increase the impact of their lectures on the people. A good picture is worth more than a thousand words. Kessler does not know how large the range has been, but he assumes considerable numbers. “There were a lot of lectures and they were clearly aimed at the middle class and working class.”
The lantern was also widely used for ideological and religious propaganda, but some columns made more use of it than others. Kessler:“The Protestants were quite suspicious of images, and they especially thought film was pernicious. The lantern, on the other hand, was not a problem for them, as long as it was used in education and not for entertainment. They saw the usefulness of using a lantern as an objective projection of reality.”
Saved
After mass use at the beginning of the twentieth century, the lantern fell into oblivion after the Second World War. It was replaced by the more modern slide projector and by film. The fact that we now know little about the use of the magic lantern in transferring knowledge, despite its presence everywhere, was precisely because of its obvious presence, Kessler thinks.
“During the period we study, from 1880 to 1940, it was so common for scientists to show images with a lantern that this was not necessarily mentioned or noted. Fortunately, some lecture notes with the accompanying glass plates have been preserved. As a result, we know how professors have used the images.”