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The Physics of Invisibility

A Story of Light and Deception

  • Book
  • © 2012

Overview

Authors:
  1. Martin Beech

    1. Regina, Canada

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  • Describes in general terms how light can be manipulated to produce a distortion of images, known as invisibility

  • Introduces the scientifically new technology of "invisibility cloaking," a technology currently heavily funded by the U.S. military

  • Explores the current discussion of the use and ethics of invisibility

  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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Table of contents (5 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvii
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  2. Of All Things Visible and Invisible

    • Martin Beech
    Pages 1-28

  3. A Very Brief History of Light

    • Martin Beech
    Pages 29-56

  4. Mirror Tricks, the Art of Cloaking and Seeing the Impossible

    • Martin Beech
    Pages 57-105

  5. Maxwell’s Marvelous Waves

    • Martin Beech
    Pages 107-129

  6. The Metamaterial Revolution

    • Martin Beech
    Pages 131-187

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 189-206
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Keywords

About this book

The ability is see is fundamental to our very existence. How true our perceptions really are depends upon many factors, and not least is our understanding of what light is and how it interacts with matter. It was said that the camera, the icon of light recording instruments, never lies, and in the day of the glass plate and celluloid roll-film this might well have been true. But in this modern era, with electronic cameras and computer software, it is often safe to assume that the camera always lies. The advertising images that bombard our every waking moment are manipulated in shape, profile, color, and form. In this new era, light can be manipulated with metamaterials to make one object look like another or even cause that objects to vanish, literally before our eyes; not only can the image we see be manipulated, but so can the light itself.

Reviews

From the reviews:

“Beech … eases readers into the topic after explaining the well-known behavior of light and giving examples of tricks of optics from magic, art, and nature. … This book is packed with fascinating examples of current work and possibilities for the future. Drawings and photographs help illustrate the physics. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals; general readers.” (M. Dickinson, Choice, Vol. 49 (10), June, 2012)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Regina, Canada

    Martin Beech

About the author

Martin Beech is a Professor of Astronomy at Campion College, the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada. He has written numerous research articles on topics ranging from meteor physics, Martian meteories, stellar structure and evolution, cosmology, the history of science and mathematical number theory. He lives in Regina with more than visible wife, a brother-in-law, five dogs (a.k.a The Five Pugs of the Apocalypse) and three cats - there are times when he certainly wishes he could be invisible.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: The Physics of Invisibility

  • Book Subtitle: A Story of Light and Deception

  • Authors: Martin Beech

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0616-7

  • Publisher: Springer New York, NY

  • eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4614-0615-0Published: 26 October 2011

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-4614-0616-7Published: 27 October 2011

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVII, 206

  • Number of Illustrations: 80 b/w illustrations, 55 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Classical Electrodynamics, Popular Science, general, Optical and Electronic Materials

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