  This paper is an adaptation of the introduction to a book project by the late
Mitchell J. Feigenbaum (1944-2019). While Feigenbaum is certainly mostly known
for his theory of period doubling cascades, he had a lifelong interest in
optics. His book project is an extremely original discussion of the apparently
very simple study of anamorphs, that is, the reflections of images on a
cylindrical mirror. He observed that there are \emph{two images} to be seen in
the tube, and discovered that the brain preferentially chooses one of them. I
edited and wrote an introduction to this planned book. As the book is still not
published, I have now adapted my introduction as a standalone version, so that
some of Feigenbaum's remarkable work will be accessible to a larger audience.
