THE BOOK OF LIGHT · EVIDENCE

Historical image provenance

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Record 1

source url: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/246270
image url: https://images.metmuseum.org/CRDImages/gr/web-large/DP109367.jpg
image path: assets/roman-oil-lamp.jpg
credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, 1896, 96.9.226
rights: Public domain; Met Open Access
object date: 1st century CE
content description: Terracotta oil lamp
verified on: 2026-10-04
api public domain: True

Record 2

source url: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/1293
image url: https://images.metmuseum.org/CRDImages/ad/web-large/DP207241.jpg
image path: assets/candlestick.jpg
credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Flora E. Whiting, 1971, 1971.180.69
rights: Public domain; Met Open Access
object date: 1670–1700
content description: Candlestick
verified on: 2026-10-04
api public domain: True

Record 3

source url: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/139
image url: https://images.metmuseum.org/CRDImages/ad/web-large/ADA3642.jpg
image path: assets/argand-lamp.jpg
credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of John C. Cattus, 1967, 67.262.6
rights: Public domain; Met Open Access
object date: 1835–40
content description: Argand Lamp
verified on: 2026-10-04
api public domain: True

Record 4

source url: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/3880
image url: https://images.metmuseum.org/CRDImages/ad/web-large/ADA202.jpg
image path: assets/gas-lamp.jpg
credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1967, 67.27.1
rights: Public domain; Met Open Access
object date: ca. 1855
content description: Gas Lamp
verified on: 2026-10-04
api public domain: True

Record 5

source url: https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/quiet-corona-upper-transition-region-of-sun/
image url: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/latest_4096_0171.jpg?w=1041
image path: assets/sun-sdo.jpg
credit: NASA/SDO
rights: NASA media guidelines permit factual educational and informational website use with acknowledgment; no endorsement implied
rights url: https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media/
object date: 2013-12-31
content description: Solar corona and upper transition region, SDO AIA 171 angstrom; false-color extreme-ultraviolet image, not visible-light appearance
verified on: 2026-10-04

Record 6

source url: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0250497
image url: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/figure/image?size=large&id=10.1371/journal.pone.0250497.g006
image path: assets/torch-experiment.png
credit: Medina-Alcaide et al. (2021), PLOS ONE 16(6): e0250497, Figure 6
rights: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; original authors and source must be credited
rights url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
object date: 2021 publication; modern experimental reconstruction
content description: Figure 6: Torch 1 used in a modern experimental archaeology study, with combustion traces and fallen charcoal; not a photograph of prehistoric people
verified on: 2026-10-04

Record 7

source url: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0250497
image url: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/figure/image?size=large&id=10.1371/journal.pone.0250497.g007
image path: assets/fat-lamp-experiment.png
credit: Medina-Alcaide et al. (2021), PLOS ONE 16(6): e0250497, Figure 7
rights: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; credit original authors and publication
rights url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
object date: 2021 experimental reconstruction of Paleolithic lighting
content description: Animal-fat stone lamp in a modern experimental archaeology study, before ignition and after 1 and 43 minutes. This 2021 reconstruction tests prehistoric lighting rather than documenting an ancient scene.
verified on: 2026-10-04

Record 8

source url: https://science.nasa.gov/image-detail/candle-flames-3/
image url: https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/candle-flames.gif
image path: assets/candle-flames-nasa.gif
credit: NASA
rights: NASA media guidelines permit factual educational and informational website use with acknowledgment; no endorsement implied
rights url: https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media/
object date: Modern combustion research; image page updated 2024
content description: NASA comparison of a candle flame in normal gravity (left) and microgravity (right). Buoyant convection helps shape the familiar terrestrial flame.
verified on: 2026-10-04

Record 9

source url: https://www.nist.gov/image/1948candelastandardlampjpg
image url: https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/images/2019/05/16/1948_candela_standard_lamp.jpg
image path: assets/incandescent-nist.jpg
credit: NIST
rights: NIST public information may be copied and distributed except material marked copyrighted; image credits requested
rights url: https://www.nist.gov/copyrights-disclaimers
object date: Standard lamp used in the 1970s; NIST image uploaded 2019
content description: A 500-watt gas-filled incandescent lamp used as a luminous-intensity standard in the 1970s. Photograph of an unlit metrology artifact.
verified on: 2026-10-04

Record 10

source url: https://www.nist.gov/image/ledlightingjpg
image url: https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/images/2017/02/01/led_lighting.jpg
image path: assets/led-nist.jpg
credit: NIST; reference 08PHY014
rights: NIST public information may be copied and distributed except material marked copyrighted; image credits requested
rights url: https://www.nist.gov/copyrights-disclaimers
object date: 2008
content description: Early LED replacement lamps photographed by NIST in 2008, including visible emitter boards and heat sinks. Their construction makes the transition to solid-state sources tangible.
verified on: 2026-10-04

Record 11

source url: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/420541
image url: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Portrait_of_Michael_Faraday_MET_DP829484.jpg
image path: assets/faraday-1852-met.jpg
credit: William Holl the Younger, after George Richmond. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Brooke Russell Astor Bequest, 2013, 2013.86
rights: Public domain; Met Open Access, CC0
rights url: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
object date: 1852
content description: Stipple engraving of Michael Faraday; a historical portrait, not a photograph of an experiment.
target page: michael-faraday.html
caption narrative: Michael Faraday in an 1852 engraving by William Holl the Younger, after George Richmond. The portrait dates from after his 1831 induction experiments; it does not depict the experiment itself.
verified on: 2026-10-05
sha256: 20cacd7a7bfbca46d85b4fb123096de92e3c118f2fc13531be9eca5d7cdce442
inspection: Downloaded original file and visually inspected; no local image edits.

Record 12

source url: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tesla_circa_1890.jpeg
image url: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Tesla_circa_1890.jpeg
image path: assets/tesla-circa-1890.jpg
credit: Napoleon Sarony, circa 1890; Tesla Museum postcard, via Wikimedia Commons
rights: Public domain; author died 1896, published before 1931; Commons public domain mark
rights url: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
object date: circa 1890
content description: Historical studio portrait of Nikola Tesla by Napoleon Sarony; Commons version has documented cleanup and tone adjustments.
target page: nikola-tesla.html
caption narrative: Nikola Tesla, photographed by Napoleon Sarony around 1890. This studio portrait gives a face to the chapter’s account of alternating-current systems and high-frequency lighting experiments; it does not document a particular demonstration.
verified on: 2026-10-05
sha256: d828b62b90f6d6a2645cfd9ce71f93bcc5d361cef8cf84efb983a6930d5304b3
inspection: Downloaded original file and visually inspected; no local image edits.

Record 13

source url: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fresnel_lens_by_F_Soleil,_Paris,_1830.JPG
image url: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Fresnel_lens_by_F_Soleil%2C_Paris%2C_1830.JPG
image path: assets/fresnel-soleil-1830.jpg
credit: Alf van Beem, 2020; photographed at the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
rights: CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication by photographer
rights url: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
object date: Lens: F. Soleil, Paris, 1830; photograph: 18 February 2020
content description: Unlit Fresnel lighthouse lens on museum display, with concentric glass sections clearly visible. Museum label visible in photograph identifies F. Soleil, Paris, 1830.
target page: fresnel-lighthouse.html
caption narrative: A Fresnel lens made by F. Soleil in Paris in 1830, photographed on display at the National Museum of Scotland in 2020. Its stepped rings make the chapter’s central idea visible: directing light depends on the optical system as well as the source. This is an unlit museum artifact.
verified on: 2026-10-05
sha256: c8935f78bc304ad77c66e9d5a59143da5c02c049737a7037c2d39e172276081f
inspection: Downloaded original file and visually inspected; no local image edits.

Record 14

source url: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eclairage.jpg
image url: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Eclairage.jpg
image path: assets/eclairage-dessertenne.jpg
credit: Maurice Dessertenne, Éclairage, Nouveau Larousse Illustré, tome 4, circa 1900; via Wikimedia Commons
rights: Public domain
rights url: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
object date: circa 1900
content description: Historical engraved plate showing many forms of lamps, lanterns and lighting apparatus; an illustration, not photographs of the objects.
caption narrative: A circa-1900 encyclopedia gathered older flame sources and newer electrical devices on the same plate. Read it as evidence of how its era pictured lighting history, not as proof of the date or appearance of every ancient object.
target page: historic-lighting-preservation.html
verified on: 2026-10-05
sha256: 6c8fdb14e965d5e7a27bbbb5c8b04de0ce54602ac80c90762e911fd6ebe7f8b0