In the Blink of an Eye: The World as You've Never Seen It

by John Brackenbury

This is a remarkable collection of photographs revealing aspects of the world around us, that are either too small to notice or so quick as to be invisible to the human eye. Cambridge University... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0715326503
• ISBN13: 9780715326503
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: David & Charles
• Length: 126 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 10.1" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Amazing images accompanied by fascinating explanations

This is an exceptional book. Unlike the related books by Stephen Dalton ("Caught in Motion" and "Secret Visions") or Lennart Nilsson ("Close to Nature")- which capture (mainly) the movements of various animals using high-speed macrophotography - John Brackenbury's book presents spectacular and creative images (most of which are unique) of natural physical phenomena. Each photo is accompanied by an informative and fascinating narration describing what the image has captured. This is a wonderful book, both visually and pedagogically. Unlike the related book by Stephen Dalton ("Caught in Motion").

Eye has not seen

We've been treated to incedible photographs that freeze quick-footed nature since 1931 when Doc Edgerton inventon the strobe light. Now, digital photography is here and John Brackenbury has used it to snap photographs of natural and man-made items that are nearly unparalleled for their weird fascination and sheer artistry. Brackenbury drop coins into water and drags lightbulbs through the liquid; he pop water-filled balloons and drops water on beetles -- anything to show the strange way that the most common fluid on the planet reacts when struck, pierced or disturbed. Brackebury uses colored water and colored gradient backgrounds to make each photograph into a work of art in its own right. The effects he captures are extraordinary -- the twin vortices that follow the wake of an object dragged through water; the surprising elasticity of the surface of water when breached by a coin (or even a frog!); the rugged "landscapes" created when the surface of water is dimpled by a geyser of water from below. Bracnbury accompanies each set of photographs with short lay-accessible descriptions of the forces on display by his photos. You'll learn of drag, turbulence, hydrostatic pressure and surface tension. More importantly,. You'll see these cconcepts at work.You'll also begin to wonder at how small insignificant effects (the spray of powder blown from a fingernail) can be reminiscent of much larger ones (the spray of stars in a galaxy), suggesting a connection at some level between the physical forces that undergird the Universe. But the science is layered on lightly, and can be ignored altogether if that is the reader's wish. "In the Blink," is fun whether you are into science, appreciate photography or just like to play in water. A beauiful book that is very easy on the eyes.