A darkroom inside the camera
A remarkable mid-century invention allowed a photographer to produce pictures almost immediately, a bit of magic that is rarely matched even by current digital cameras.
Instant gratification in the Swinging Sixties
The color of parchment
Scientists and scholars in partnership
One of the advantages of living in the Washington, DC area is the wealth of cultural opportunities. Expositions of science, history and the arts are going on all the time. Our astronomer attended one of these recently, telling the story of how multicolor imaging allowed scholars to read a text that had been erased centuries ago.
Live long and prosper
What makes a device last for decades?
Our photographer routinely handles cameras from many different eras, using them to take pictures rather than keeping them for display. Those that work best are neither the youngest ones nor the most expensive. What design features make for a long life?
The artist and her tools
Our photographer accompanied a pair of artists on a picture-taking expedition this past weekend. As expected, he has observations to make about old and new technology. But he was also driven to more general musings about the relationship between artists, their visions and their tools.
The unnecessary theory
You will have heard of the detection of gravitational waves, just announced this past week. For once the mass media haven’t over-hyped a scientific discovery: this really is an important find. We’re not going to try to explain the science behind it (there are lots of articles on line and offline that do that). It’s the fact of the 100-year gap between the theoretical prediction and the actual observation that tells us something about the nature of science.
“Outside the proper scope”
What you can do, and what you should do
In the Five Colors Science & Technology library of photography are a number of old books that we still find interesting. Apart from details of procedures and chemistry that are hard to find elsewhere, they show the different ideas, through the years, of just what was a good photograph.
The old fencer and the cheap watch
The unexpected usefulness of old and new things
Our navigator had the pleasure of attending a fencing match this past weekend as a spectator. The range in ages of the participants was unusually large, which highlights some important considerations about newer and older people and things.
Getting your universe right
Our service providing science help for writers
Your novel, novella, short story or epic poem has everything:
- Ingenious plot
- Scintillating dialogue
- Believable and interesting characters
Shouldn’t you also get the universe right?
The strange case of the dimming star
A good and bad example of current science
Our astronomer begs to be allowed to explain what’s really interesting about KIC8462852.
With or against the grain?
Defects become desirable
Our photographer is bemused by modern efforts to re-create, digitally, two of the least desirable qualities of fast film: high contrast and large grain. But the paradox of limitations and defects becoming highly sought-after features is not new, and is as widespread as ripped jeans.