Holography: From Futuristic Promise to Scientific Workhorse
Whatever became of holography? (2011)
Once a symbol of futuristic progress, holography faded from public view as digital displays advanced. Yet the field, born from three independent threads—Dennis Gabor's wavefront reconstruction, Yuri Denisyuk's wave photography, and Emmett Leith's radar-inspired optical processing—became a fertile technique at the heart of modern science. Its history offers lessons about the dangers of unrefined forecasting and the cultural factors behind technological change.
On looking back to this event, I am impressed by the great limitations of the human mind. How quick are we to learn, that is, to imitate what others have done or thought before. And how slow to understand, that is, to see the deeper connections. Slowest of all, however, are we in inventing new connections or even in applying old ideas in a new field.