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 The Private Eye Loupes:
Looking
Closely
 In 1989 Kerry Ruef introduced the jeweler's loupe to the world of education.
The
Private Eye loupe (the "hardware"
of The Private Eye process) is a magical magnification tool
that packs a wallop, though it is about the size of a walnut.
It makes the world-of-small large, it makes the previously
invisible visible. Its secret is that a loupe cuts out the
rest of the world, cuts out competing visual distractions,
which increases drama, wonder, concentration. Its secret is
also that it makes the world slightly strange, fresh. The loupe
helps strip a thing of its cliché, its stereotyped image,
so that real discovery can begin.
A loupe
gives the ordinary person the heightened visual sensitivity
of the artist, the writer, the scientist. Close observation
- mixed with wonder - is essential for the development of
artist, scientist, writer, as well as mathematician, humorist,
inventor, and more.
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Two loupes nested give 10X magnification |
Note:
one loupe is 5X, two loupes nested give 10X magnification. (When you nest
two loupes, at 10X, you still have a wide field of view, and
you have the same power as most dissecting scopes.) The advantage:
these exceptionally clear lenses are inexpensive and each
student can work at his/her own desk and can easily take
them outside for fieldwork. Try hanging the loupes on a loupe-lanyard around
your neck!
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