Mirror Mirror: A History Of The Human Love Affair With Reflection

by Mark Pendergrast

Of all human inventions, the mirror is perhaps the one most closely connected to our own consciousness. As our first technology for contemplation of the self, the mirror is arguably as important an invention as the wheel. Mirror Mirror is the fascinating story of the mirror's invention, refinement, and use in an astonishing range of human activities--from the fantastic mirrored rooms that wealthy Romans created for their orgies to the mirror's key role in the use and understanding of light. Pendergrast spins tales of the 2,500year mystery of whether Archimedes and his "burning mirror" really set faraway Roman ships on fire; the medieval Venetian glassmakers, who perfected the technique of making large, flat mirrors from clear glass and for whom any attempt to leave their cloistered island was punishable by death; Isaac Newton, whose experiments with sunlight on mirrors once left him blinded for three days; the artist David Hockney, who holds controversial ideas about Renaissance artists and their use of optical devices; and George Ellery Hale, the manic-depressive astronomer and telescope enthusiast who inspired (and gave his name to) the twentieth century's largest ground-based telescope. Like mirrors themselves, Mirror Mirror is a book of endless wonder and fascination.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Science, Psychology, Cultural

416 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2003

About the author

Mark Pendergrast was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, the fourth of seven children in a family that valued civil rights, the environment, sailing, reading, and games of chase and charades. He earned a B.A. in English literature from Harvard, taught high school and elementary school, then went back to Simmons College for a masters in library science and worked as an academic librarian—all the while writing freelance articles for newspapers and magazines. In 1991, he began writing books full time, which allows him to follow his rather eclectic interests.

Pendergrast’s books have been published in 15 languages. For God, Country & Coca-Cola was named a notable book of the year by the New York Times, and Discover Magazine chose Mirror Mirror as one of the top science books of the year. Pendergrast has given speeches to professional groups, business associations, and college audiences in the United States, Canada, the U.K., and Germany. He has appeared on dozens of television shows, including the Today Show, CBS This Morning, and CNN, and has been interviewed on over 100 radio programs, including All Things Considered, Marketplace, Morning Edition, and many other public radio shows. He lives in Colchester, Vermont.

Reviews

[Bookewyfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an extensive compilation of the history of mirrors with humanity, spanning centuries and millennia. It is A LOT of information. Very interesting! Love them or hate them, mirrors have quite the history—and it’s still growing.

[Carlos · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a thorough if uninspiring look at the role played by mirrors in the human imagination, especially as it relates to optics and astronomy. Pendergrast takes the reader through a quick overview of the roles played by mirrors in ancient cultures, especially regarding their use in ceremonies and other spiritual endeavors. Once he arrives at the Renaissance his focus settles finally on the evolving field of optics and follows its obsession with perfecting mirrors, glasses and lenses as scientific equipment and the role they played in any and all discoveries regarding light, space and everything in between. While the book is certainly informative, Pendergrast’s writing seems a list of people, dates and discoveries that quickly become a drone. While I have no qualms with facts and figures I am always disappointed when the author believes their job to be that of a mere compiler instead of trying to weave these facts into a cohesive narrative with the goal of explaining something or someone.

[Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much, too much!
There was alot of very interesting information here, but there was just too much. I couldn't wait for it to be over. It was a difficult read, but if you can hold on like I did, you will learn some fascinating facts.

The book starts out true to the title, about reflection and human obsession with self image. It then spends over 100 pages talking about mirror science in other uses. It concludes quickly in one page about reflection again, as if the whole book was about that. Perhaps the author became sick of the book, as well. I think this needed better editing.

[Ralphz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book about mirrors, vision and how the two have paired throughout history. It runs the gamut from obsidian and metal mirrors to massive telescopes, with stops in fashion, art and astronomy.

There are some interesting stories in here, especially how science always has more discoveries to make and ideas to refine - or discard, as the case may be.

As an aside, the author mentions the famous Pepper's Ghost mirror illusions at my favorite Disneyland attraction, the Haunted Mansion (+1 point), but it mistakenly calls the attraction the Haunted House (-1).

This book was published in 2003, so some of the technical information at the end is a little outdated (the National Ignition Facility hasn't actually achieved fusion like the author hoped), but that's what happens with science.

The only real drawback is that it spends a lot of time on ancillary subjects like the makeup of the universe. He also stretches the "mirror" idea by including radio waves and x-rays in the discussion of telescopes and microscopes.

[Emg · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a slog! And where was the mirror as a mirror? It seems as if the author skimmed a few books to get some information about mirrors in history, summarized his findings in a sentence or two, then rubbed his hands in glee when he could finally settle in on Telescopes. If you like to read about grinding glass and focal points and parabolas then you might like this book; if your interest in the history of mirrors and its influence on life and people and perceptions, then you need to find another book that more closely follows the jacket summary (which actually devoted more text to the human impact of mirrors than did the book itself). A livelier writing style might have rescued the text a little but it's hard to get away from the fact that "Mirror Mirror" is mistitled and misleading and, for me anyway, a miserable read.

[Bob Beilstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually more than I ever wanted to know about mirrors

Got a little overlong, especially where the author decided to move from science into philosophy or social commentary. Also the final chapters are somewhat dated now.

Still, very informative. On the whole, I'm very glad I read it.

[Ok · Rating 3 out of 5]

I joined good reads just to leave this review. I’m only on page 14 and the misogyny is just wafting off this writer. Thoughtless as some of his words are I will still finish this book because the content is interesting. If anyone has additional reading on this topic from other authors I’d surely love the recommendations.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book does cover a history of mirrors, the author seems to get merrily side-tracked by the history of the study of light in general and telescopes in particular. I found this to actually be very interesting (I'd never really thought about telescope development before, and I had no idea how complicated mirror production was and how closely guarded trade secrets were at one time), though it wasn't what I'd anticipated. The major shortcoming of the book is that it comes across as one very long high school (or maybe freshman college) term paper -- lots of fascinating facts and dates and names pieced together coherently, but no sense that the author actually _understands_ the subject himself, beyond the surface level at which he is writing. I suppose that comes with journalistic writing as opposed to autobiographical accounts, but it leaves me hesitant to trust the accuracy or scope.

[Sylvia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book should really be called "Some interesting stuff about mirrors and then 200 pages about telescopes and the history of astronomy." There were some interesting bits about the history of mirror-making, some short philosophical ramblings on the human relationship to mirrors and mirror-related objects, and then TELESCOPES.

Yes, telescopes have mirrors, and mirrors are super important for astronomy, so a chapter about telescopes was not out of line. But pages and pages of reading about various astronomers and their painstaking work grinding a YET BIGGER mirror for a YET BIGGER telescope...I enjoy reading about astronomy, but it was dull.

[Snehal Bhagat · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that examines the phenomenon of reflection and the role of the mirror in mythology and religion; its pervasiveness in everyday life, its influence on art and culture, its impact on commerce and entertainment and its applications in science and astronomy.

Interesting throughout, its a well-researched work but suffers from the disadvantage of being absolutely crammed with information. The tale of reflection is a magical one, and the story is worth telling, but had it been written in a style less journalistic and more literary, it would have made a more rewarding read.

[Maite Iracheta · Rating 4 out of 5]

"In 1438, Johannes Gensfleisch Gutenberg started a mirror-making in Strasbourg, selling small metal o glass mirrors to religious pilgrims who believed they could thereby capture the reflection of a saint's relics --a poor person's way to bring home holiness. In 1444, Gutenberg returned to Mainz, where he used his expertise in metal-working and the concept of mirror images to create the first printing press. By 1455, he had completed his monumental printing of the Bible". p. 38

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has captured my imagination about the history of science in a way no single book has done in a long time. Sometimes I wished that he'd stop limiting the topic to mirrors and widen the scope of the book but the narrow topic does keep it fluidly moving through time. Try to push through the first chapter where he drones on poetically about the spiritual pull of mirrors on to the meat of the book which includes an excellent primer on optics.

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book should not have been named "Mirror Mirror". It should have been called "Telescope Telescope". I don't like being tricked into thinking a book would be about one subject and it is about another. The three chapters that were actually about mirrors were interesting. I really enjoyed them. I did not enjoy the rest of the book at all. NONE. That's why it literally took me months to finish. I pushed myself to finish this book and now I am so glad its done.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. The first few chapters were tough slugging and their were a few inconsistencies, but an interesting read. Much of the focus for the latter half of the book was on the history of the use of mirrors in astronomical telescopes so not too much new for me there...

Did you know that rear-view mirrors were not mandatory in the USA until 1966? Now you do!

[Jenny Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The one thing I didn't like about this book was that it lagged in the middle. Otherwise , it was a great book. This book tells the story of light: don't be fooled by the title. Mirror, Mirror is a history of light, telescopes and humans. I really enjoyed learning a lot of little known facts about famous scientists.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some chapters were fascinating and some were too scientific or technical for me.

I am more interested in the history of and the idea of mirrors than in the technicalities of making them or using them in certain applications.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with this book. I am fascinated by science but don't have a firm grounding in the technical side. Not only does Pendergrast make the subject amazingly interesting, his excitement for it is contagious.

[Ralph Zoontjens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book on one of the world's most profoundly transformative but often overlooked technologies: the mirror. This technology seemingly shows us who we are, but at the same time it introduces a mysterious duality. So who am I really?

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first third and last chapter of this book were what I was hoping for. The rest would have more accurately been titled "A complete history of every telescope ever made in the Western world."

[Jamie]

I gave up on this bad boy right away...

[Janta · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mostly-interesting microhistory/science history about mirrors. There was a lengthy chapter on telescopes that got a bit dull after a while -- I admit I skimmed a good chunk of it.