中国奴隶制社会初期正处青铜器时代，人们在长期的青铜冶铸实践中，认识了合金成分、性能和用途之间的关 系，并能人工的控制铜、锡、铅配比。古书《考工记》中记载“金有六齐”，即合金的六种配比。其中最后一齐：“金，锡半，谓之鉴燧之齐。”就是制作铜镜用的配比。“鉴”即是镜，含锡较高，是因为铜镜磨出光亮的表面和银白色泽，还需要有铸造性能以保证花纹细致。 　　中国人早在2000多年以前就制出了精美的“透光镜”，它能反射出铜镜背后的美丽图案，因此引起世人的极大兴趣。为了解开“透光镜”之谜，国内外学者花了几百年时间进行研究探索，直到近代才发现，这是由于镜面在制造加工以后，有相对于背面图案的轻微不等的曲率，通过反射映出背面的图案。这充分说明了中国古代高超的制镜技术和对光反射特性深刻认识。 　　在欧洲古希腊、罗马时代；也是用一种稍凸出的磨光金属盘作镜，其不反光的一面刻有花纹，最早的镜子是带柄的手镜，到公元1世纪出现了可以照全身的大镜，中世纪时，手镜在欧洲普遍流行，通常为银制或磨光的青铜镜，中世纪时，装在精美的象牙盒内或珍贵的金属盒内的小镜子，成为妇女随身携带物品。 　　作为一种时髦品，背面涂金属的玻璃镜子是12至13世纪之交出现的，到文艺复兴时期，纽伦堡和威尼斯已成为著名的制镜中心。14世纪初，威尼斯人用锡箔和水银涂在玻璃背面制镜，照起来很清楚，15世纪纽伦堡制成凸透镜，是制玻璃球时在内部涂一层锡汞齐。 　　现代镜子是用1835年德国化学家利比格发明的方法制造的，把硝酸银和还原剂混合，使硝酸银析出银，附在玻璃上。一般使用的还原剂是食糖或四水合酒石酸钾钠。1929年英国的皮尔顿兄弟以连续镀银、镀铜、上漆、干燥等工艺改进了此法。 　　随着技术的进步，镜子的成本降低，各种各样曲面镜的出现，使镜子的使用日益广泛，具有了除映照仪容以外的更多的用途。如汽车上用的球面后视抛物面镜，在望远镜中用于聚集和在探照灯中用于反射出平行光的抛物面镜等。
Chinese slavery society in the early Bronze Age, people in the long-term practice of bronze metallurgy, know the alloy composition, properties and USES, the relations between the can and artificial control of ratio of copper, tin and lead. Recorded in ancient books "as well," gold six qi ", namely the ratio of six kinds of alloy. The end together: "gold, tin, refers to qi ancient bronze mirror of flint." Is make ratio for the bronze mirror. "Learning" is a mirror, with high tin, is because the surface of the bronze mirror grinding out light and silvery white color, also need to have the casting performance to ensure the pattern carefully. The Chinese as early as 2000 years ago created the beautiful "light", it can reflect the beautiful patterns behind the bronze mirror, thus caused the great interest of the world. In order to solve "through using the" mystery, domestic and foreign scholars study explore spent hundreds of years, it was not until modern times, found that this is because the mirror after the manufacturing process, there are relative to the pattern on the back of mild range curvature, through reflection mirror on the back of the pattern. This shows fully convincingly that the ancient Chinese have mirrors technology and optical reflection characteristics of deep understanding. In Europe in ancient Greek and Roman times; Also with a slightly convex mirror polished metal plate, the reflective side engraved with decorative pattern, the earliest is with a hand mirror, mirror in the 1st century AD appeared the big mirror can according to the whole body, in the middle ages, hand mirror widely popular in Europe, usually in the form of silver or bronze mirror polishing, during the middle ages, in the exquisite ivory box or a small mirror in the precious metal box, become women's carry-on baggage. As a fashion item, painted metal glass on the back of the mirror is 12 to 13 at the turn of the century, to the Renaissance, nuremberg and has become a famous mirrors center of Venice. Early 14th century, the Venetian mercury coated with tin foil, and on the back of the glass mirror, as it is clear, the nuremberg into convex lens in the 15th century, is the internal coating a layer of tin in producing glass ball amalgam. Modern mirror was invented in 1835, German chemist libby lattice method of manufacture, the mix of silver nitrate and reducing agent, the silver, silver nitrate precipitation attached on the glass. General is the use of reductant sugar or four hydrated sodium potassium tartrate. 1929 British peer's brother with continuous plating silver, copper plating, painting, drying process improved the method. With the progress of technology, the mirror of cost reduction, the emergence of various mirror, it is becoming more and more widely, the use of the mirror with the except its appearance more USES. Such as car after using the spherical paraboloidal mirror, in the telescope is used to gather and used for reflecting in the searchlight parallel light paraboloidal mirror, etc.