Bruce Watson's Blog: Light and its Lovers
February 2, 2016
Hail Holy Light
I have just returned from a remarkable journey, a journey into light. My two-year journey took me across human history, along the evolving path of the human intellect, and deep into the hearts and minds of humanity. It was a journey that tapped joy and ecstasy.
"On her well-harnessed chariot, Dawn approaches. . . . bringing forth light, the Wonderful."
-- the Rig Veda
It was a journey that put me in the company of Einstein and Edison, of Rembrandt and Monet, of Newton and Descartes, of Aristotle and Ptolemy. Along the way, I felt the light of Gothic cathedrals and aimed the light of the laser. I explored Light the Divine, Light the Romantic, Light the Particle, Light the Wave, and finally, Light the Particle and Wave of Quantum theory.
Never again will I take light for granted. Never another ho-hum sunset or "back to sleep" dawn. No more casual glances at the light of my iPad or the light of an LED. Light, as I write in my book, is "the magician of the cosmos." We have worshiped, painted, and photographed light. We have framed it in stone and captured it in poetry. And for the last century, we have probed its baffling behavior, turning light into a tool that carves, cleans, heals, reads, senses, measures, and manipulates.
My journey is done now but I have come back home a different person. Hail Holy Light, particle, wave, and wonder.
"On her well-harnessed chariot, Dawn approaches. . . . bringing forth light, the Wonderful."
-- the Rig Veda
It was a journey that put me in the company of Einstein and Edison, of Rembrandt and Monet, of Newton and Descartes, of Aristotle and Ptolemy. Along the way, I felt the light of Gothic cathedrals and aimed the light of the laser. I explored Light the Divine, Light the Romantic, Light the Particle, Light the Wave, and finally, Light the Particle and Wave of Quantum theory.
Never again will I take light for granted. Never another ho-hum sunset or "back to sleep" dawn. No more casual glances at the light of my iPad or the light of an LED. Light, as I write in my book, is "the magician of the cosmos." We have worshiped, painted, and photographed light. We have framed it in stone and captured it in poetry. And for the last century, we have probed its baffling behavior, turning light into a tool that carves, cleans, heals, reads, senses, measures, and manipulates.
My journey is done now but I have come back home a different person. Hail Holy Light, particle, wave, and wonder.
Light and its Lovers
Musings from my studies of light in all disciplines.
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