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The author of Skulls in the Stars is a professor of physics, specializing in optical science, at UNC Charlotte. The blog covers topics in physics and optics, the history of science, classic pulp fantasy and horror fiction, and the surprising intersections between these areas. -
Category Archives: Optics
The first paper on invisibility? (1902)
When discussing the history of invisibility physics, I typically cite Ehrenfest’s 1910 paper on radiationless motions as the first publication dedicated to the subject. Ehrenfest’s paper, which attempts to explain how electrons could oscillate in a classical atom without radiating, … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics
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Lord Rayleigh vs. the Aether! (1902)
(Note: This is an attempt to get myself rolling on my long-ignored series of posts explaining Einstein’s theories of relativity. It’s also a really cool experiment in the history of science.) One of the most fascinating aspects of 19th century … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Optics, Relativity
10 Comments
Some musings on negative refraction
For a part of this past week I was at a workshop in California, and a lot of excellent theoretical and experimental researchers of metamaterials were present. One of the points stressed by many of them is the difference between … Continue reading
Posted in Optics
8 Comments
Invisibility physics: Hiding and seeking, all at once!
When the first papers on the idea of a “cloaking” device came out in 2006, lots of people were immediately worried that the CIA would soon be peering right over their shoulder from the shelter of invisibility cloaks. Many scientists, … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Optics
2 Comments
The National Naval Aviation Museum and a cute optical illusion
Bleah! I’m back from my trip to the Flora-bama area, but didn’t make any jumps — we were essentially weathered out Friday and Saturday, and by Sunday I’d had enough. Most of my jump friends had already bailed, and though … Continue reading
Posted in Optics, Travel
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What does negative refraction LOOK like?
My friend Personal Demon recently forwarded me an article that deals with a rather cute idea: Photorealistic ray tracing aids understanding of metamaterials. “Metamaterials” may be described roughly as materials with a man-made structure on the scale of nanometers which … Continue reading
Posted in Optics
13 Comments
Optics in the Haunted Mansion!
During our visit to Walt Disney World, the new wife and I made sure to hit all the classic rides in the Magic Kingdom: Pirates of the Carribean, The Tiki Room, The Haunted Mansion, even It’s a Small World (though, … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Optics
18 Comments
Optics basics: Young’s double slit experiment
As I’ve so far been restricting my ‘optics basics’ posts to discussions of fundamental concepts related to optics, it might seem strange at first glance to dedicate a post to a single optical experiment. What will hopefully become clear, however, … Continue reading
Posted in Optics, Optics basics
48 Comments
Faraday brings light and magnetism together (1845)
The more I read of Michael Faraday’s work, the more I am in awe of the scientist’s insights and abilities. As evidence of the remarkable intuition he had regarding the forces of nature, consider the following passage: I have long … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Optics, Physics
14 Comments
Faking tilt-shift photography, via Photoshop
I recently took another look at my post on depth of focus and depth of field, and noticed to my chagrin that the link to the original ‘miniworld’ pics, which show how a real scene can be made to look … Continue reading
Posted in Optics
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