Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Keywords
Visual perception, Aniseikonia, Colors, Eyes, Retinal images, Trapezoids, Optics, Rooms, Ophthalmology, Philosophical psychology
Journal/Book/Conference Title Title
Leonardo
Volume
20
Issue
3
First Page
273
Last Page
279
Abstract
This paper is a summary of the life and major achievements of Adelbert Ames, Jr., an American ophthalmologist and perceptual psychologist, who had initially wanted to be a visual artist. He is most widely remembered today as the inventor of the Ames Demonstrations in Perception, the most famous of which consists of a distorted room in which people seem to shrink as they walk from one corner to another. This essay discusses the relationship of the Ames Demonstrations to anamorphic visual art, and it documents various comments by perceptual psychologists and artists who were directly acquainted with Ames.
Department
Department of Art
Original Publication Date
1987
DOI of published version
10.2307/1578173
Repository
UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa
Date Digital
1987
Copyright
©1987 The MIT Press
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Behrens, Roy R., "The Life and Unusual Ideas of Adelbert Ames, Jr." (1987). Faculty Publications. 5.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/art_facpub/5
Comments
First published in Leonardo, v.20 n. 3 (1987), pp. 273-279, published by the MIT Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1578173.