Light Touch
Mystic Cameras
Mysterious photos taken by lightning. Perfectly preserved images captured on the retina of a dead man’s eye. Are these bizarre phenomena grounded in fact or examples of science fiction?
Illustration from Jules Verne’s 1902 novel Les Frères Kip.
The idea that a powerful natural force can produce mysterious effects is a common one in literature and folklore. In the movie Frankenstein, for example, electricity is used to bring the monster to life. Edgar Allen Poe wrote three stories that played with the same concept. Similarly, there have been folk legends alleging that non-human forces have produced inexplicable phenomena in the areas of hypnotism, X-rays, cosmic rays, radioactivity, and, most recently, genetic engineering and nanotechnology.
…Log in or become a member to view the full text of this article.
This article may be available for purchase via the search at Optica Publishing Group.
Optica Members get the full text of Optics & Photonics News, plus a variety of other member benefits.