By Sean F Johnston
Oxford University Press
The book is a sort of biography of holograms, peculiar optical “objects” that have crossed the border of science to enter other cultural and anthropological fields, such as art, visual technology, pop culture, magic and illusion. No other visual experience is like interacting with holograms – they have the power to fascinate and amuse people. Not only physicists and engineers, but also artists, hippies, hobbyists and illusionists have played with, and dreamed about, holograms.
This volume can be considered as complementary to a previous book by the same author, a professor at the University of Glasgow, called Holographic Visions: A History of New Science. While the first book gave an account of the scientific concepts behind holography, and of its development as a research subject and engineering tool, the present text focuses on the impact that holography has had on society and consumers of such technology.
The author explores how holograms found a place in distinct cultural settings, moving from being expressions of modernity to countercultural art means, from encoding tools for security to vehicles for mystery.
Clearly written and full of interesting factual information, this book is addressed to historians and sociologists of modern science and technology, as well as to enthusiasts who are interested in understanding the journey of this fascinating optical medium.
