Original scientific paper
On Marin Getaldić’s Parabolic Mirrors
Žarko Dadić
Abstract
It has been known so far that Marin Getaldić constructed parabolic mirrors in Dubrovnik and that he made experiments with them. After his death his mirror was bestowed to Francesco Barberini, the cardinal. It is now evident from a poem written by Sante Pieralisi in 1839, that Getaldić’s mirror was restored a little before that year. His parabolic mirror is today in the National Maritime Museum of Greenwich.
According to all nowadays known data it can be deduced that his probable experimental purposes could be: 1) to get high temperature in the focus of the parabolic mirror, and in con nection with this to find out the melting point of different materials; 2) to repeat burning experiments for some objects in the mirror focus; 3) to find out the position and the size of pictures of objects in different positions relating the parabolic mirror.
Keywords
Marin Getaldić; parabolic mirrors
Hrčak ID:
244672
URI
Publication date:
30.6.1979.
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