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Lissajous figures are produced by combining two oscillations at right angles to each other. The figures, drawn by mechanical devices called harmonographs, have scientific uses, but are also enjoyed for their own beauty. The author has been working with harmonographs since his undergraduate days, building several of them, lecturing on them and has written articles about them.
This book is intended for people who enjoy physics or art or both. Certainly, physics professionals, both students and faculty members, will enjoy reading about an interesting byway of physics. The book is mainly designed for the reader who has some scientific literacy, but who may not be a scientist. If your mathematics is rusty, a preliminary section on mathematics supplies the necessary background for reading the rest of the book.
PREFACE
PRELIMINARIES Some Mathematics How Lissajous Figures are Formed
HISTORY Nathanial Bowditch and the Y-Shaped Pendulum Jules Antoine Lissajous and His Tuning Forks Hubert Arey and His Observations from Nature
HARMONOGRAPHS OF ALL SORTS Oscillating Mirrors The Kaleidophone Oscillating Blades Pendulum Harmonographs The Y-Shaped Pendulum The Two-Speaker Harmonograph Other Harmonographs of Unusual Design The Oscilloscope The Animated Harmonograph Harmonograph “Toys”
LOVELY LISSAJOUS FIGURE