Invisibility: The History and Science of How Not to Be Seen

Description

A lively exploration of how invisibility has gone from science fiction to fact   Is it possible for something or someone to be made invisible? This question, which has intrigued authors of science fiction for over a century, has become a headline-grabbing topic of scientific research.   In this book, science writer and optical physicist Gregory J. Gbur traces the science of invisibility from its sci-fi origins in the nineteenth-century writings of authors such as H. G. Wells and Fitz James O’Brien to modern stealth technology, invisibility cloaks, and metamaterials. He explores the history of invisibility and its science and technology connections, including the discovery of the electromagnetic spectrum, the development of the atomic model, and quantum theory. He shows how invisibility has moved from fiction to reality, and he questions the hidden paths that lie ahead for researchers.   This is not only the story of invisibility but also the story of humankind’s understanding of the nature of light itself, and of the many fascinating figures whose discoveries advanced this knowledge. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Dedication Contents 1 In Which I Made a Bad Prediction 2 What Do We Mean by “Invisible”? 3 Science Meets Fiction 4 Invisible Rays, Invisible Monsters 5 Light Comes Out of the Darkness 6 Light Goes Sideways 7 Magnets and Currents and Light, Oh My! 8 Waves and Wells 9 What's in an Atom? 10 The Last of the Great Quantum Skeptics 11 Seeing Inside 12 A Wolf on the Hunt 13 Materials Not Found in Nature 14 Invisibility Cloaks Appear 15 Things Get Weird 16 More Than Hiding Appendix A: How to Make Your Own Invisibility Device! Appendix B: Invisibibliography Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Epigraph Credits Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z