Prefadaents
Lighteoseethings。Thistautologyisthestartingpointofalongandfasgtrailfromwhichdevelopedbothextraordinaryviewsofhowthenaturalworldbehavesaoolsahodsonwhisceisbuilt-explanationsthatareehexperiments。
Lightformationabouts,fromdistantstarsaheourbodiestoindividualatomsaisthebasisofmanyteologiesthatenhanceourqualityoflife:theIispht;themostprecisetheworldrelyonlight;thetis,fromindividualatoms,tolivebiologicalbeobservedandmanipulatedusinglight;imagesanddisplaysareeverywhere。Lightrevealsthefullstrahequantumiresinationabouttheworld。Yetitmightsurpriseyoutoknowthatwhatlightactuallyiswasonlyreallyuoodlessthanahundredyearsago,andevennoutsfromthatuanding。
Thisbookexploreshowpeoplehaveetoourtviewofwhatlightisandwhatitdoes。It’sagreatstbatotheaworld,withaglobalcastofEuAthensandAl-HazeninBaghdad,gtheideaoflightrays,toTedMaimaninLosAngelesandShujiNakamurainTokushimadevelopingnewlasers,bywayofJosephFresnelinParisandThomasYounginLondonthinkingaboutlightwaves,toJamesClerkMaxwellinAberdeenandHeizinBerlindevelopingfromtheseideastheceptfinallyatedieininBernandPaulDiraCambridgeexplailymutuallyinpatiblefactsbyaradiewcept-thequashowedhowitispossibletobebothapartidawaveatthesametime。
&ep,anding(forexample,ofrefra)hasledtonelis(suchaseyeglassesfvisiohfromdiscoverytoteologyisoftewhenlightisiheimpactoflightonthemodernworldisimmeenuhisreason,2015hasbeeedbytheUioiht:acelebrationoflightandossiblebyit。
IshouldliketoreythankstoAlexWalmsleyandLathaMenonforhelpfulentsondraftsofthisbook,andtomanycolleaguesftospecifiicalquestiohosewhokindlyprovidedillustratiures。Errorsagobeyoion,attributedtoEiomakethingsassimpleaspossible,butnotsimpler,areduetome。
&IHT2015