bookofjoe

'Every opaque body fills the surrounding air with infinite images...'

"by which infinite pyramids diffused in the air present this body all in all and all in every part." — Leonardo da Vinci, 500 years ahead of his time, envisions holography.

The quotation is from page 231 of Martin Kemp's book, "Seen|Unseen: Art, Science and Intuition from Leonardo to the Hubble Telescope," where Kemp explores physicist David Bohm's use of the holographic analogy to illustrate how it is that a reality can exist outside the limits of perception of an individual.

Here is the relevant passage, for context:

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A hologram uses the properties of a laser beam, which holds together and does not disperse, to record the wave field of light scattered by a visible object in the form of an interference pattern on a plate. The "normal" optical array of the object can be reconstituted by a laser to to such effect that we see a fully three-dimensional illusion which even responds within set parameters to the moving of the observer's viewpoint, thus imitating the phenomenon of parallax. Not the least remarkable properties of the holographic "photograph" — and the one which most intrigued Bohm — is that any part of the plate can be used to reconstitute the whole image, down to quite small fragments. This property is similar to Leonardo's theory of the inherent presence of images (what he called "species") at every point in the air around an object: "every opaque body fills the surrounding air with infinite images, by which infinite pyramids diffused in the air present this body all in all and all in every part." Such images only become visible when the right conditions are present; that is to say, in the case of Leonardo's "species," when the eye is placed at a specific position which is situated at an appropriate distance from the object, or, in the case of a hologram, when a laser reconstitutes the image for an appropriately positioned observer. The holographic property of each small part embodying the whole image is clearly very different from a standard photograph. A corner torn from a standard photographic negative will only contain that part of the image that resides in the corner — say, a foot — and certainly cannot be used to print the whole image. We may say, therefore, that the swirling pattern of a holographic plate contains in all its parts the optical order with which our sight operates but that this order is inherent within another level of organization such that we cannot directly see a coherent image of the original object when looking in a normal way at the plate.

A cat called Van Halen

Jump.

[via Karmapanda]

Keep an eye on you

From the "Objects of Co-Dependency" series.

By Keetra Dean Dixon and JK Keller.

[via miniManel and World Famous Design Junkies]

Shower Curtain Savers

This item is the single most requested thing I've ever featured.

At least twice a month someone emails saying the links on my last post about them don't work, and can I help?

So here's my help this time around.

From the website:

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Shower Curtain Savers

Clear 16-gauge vinyl curtain savers repair and reinforce torn hook holes.

Easy to apply with moisture-proof adhesive backing.

Peel off paper and press onto your curtain.

1.25" diameter.

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12 for $3.99.

'Goldberg' Variations for Harp — Catrin Finch

The Welsh harpist transcribed Bach's masterwork after listening to Glenn Gould's recordings.

Her arrangement appears on a new Deutsche Grammophon disc.

Counting with Movies

By JK Keller.

8 things about 'State of Play'

1. It's long (two hour and eight minutes) but that's a benefit, not a hazard, as Deckard might say: like a good book, you wish it would just go on and on.

2. Rachel McAdams, who's about to turn 31, looks around 12 years old in the film. Charmingly daft, actually, the way the director decided to really create a contrast with her as cub reporter to big gnarly bear Russell Crowe.

3. Russell Crowe, like Brad Pitt, always makes a movie better just by his presence.

4. Washington, D.C., the venue for the fictionalized Blackwater/government cabal, doesn't look very good at all compared to other thrillers of this sort (think "No Way Out" and "Absolute Power").

5. Helen Mirren's editor-in-chief of a Washington Post-like paper is just wonderful, bitingly sarcastic, indignant and profane.

6. Ben Affleck seems like he's sleepwalking through his part as a bent congressman: I wonder if he was preoccupied by something. Like McAdams, he also looks as if he stepped into the Ponce de León jetstream, appearing about 25 (he's 37).

7. Jeff Daniels, as the House Majority Whip, is meant to be frightening and foreboding but alas, only appears to be Jeff Daniels trying to be frightening and foreboding. Stick to Donald Sutherland for roles of this sort.

8. Robin Wright Penn is, as always, understated and superb. As with Crowe, everything she's in is better just for that fact.

Nice top

"Broken Pearls," by New Zealand-based Karen Walker.

There's also a dress.

[via greedy girl]