A History of Seeing in Eleven Inventions

From the mastery of fire a million years ago, humans repeatedly invented new ways to see their surroundings, each other and themselves. Artificial light, early art, mirrors, writing, lenses, printing, photography, film, television, smartphones. These tools didn't just add to our visual repertoire, they shaped Western culture and made us who we are. As Far As the Eye Can See traces the history of seeing using eleven inventions, from the first evolutionary stirrings of sight to the present. It reveals that with each new invention that changed how or what we see, we changed ourselves, and the world around us. Visual technologies propelled the human journey from walking apes to masters of nature to self-obsessed screen junkies. And with each revolution in seeing, sight slowly eclipsed our other senses. Having come this far, Denham asks, are we now at peak seeing? Can our eyes keep up with technology's relentless march? Have we gone as far as the eye can see?

Auteur

As head of the BBC's TV strategy unit, Susan Denham spent many years studying the relationship between television viewers, content, and technology. She noticed that new technologies often have surprising effects on how people behave. Prior to joining the BBC, Susan developed TV channels for a Hollywood movie studio. Susan has a first class degree in Economics and Law from Sydney University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Texte du rabat

In 2015 #thedress captured the world's imagination. Was the dress in the picture white and gold or blue and black? It inspired the author to ask: if people in the same time and place can see the same thing differently, how did people in distant times and places see the world?

Jam-packed with fascinating stories, facts and insights and impeccably researched, A History of Seeing in Eleven Inventions investigates the story of seeing from the evolution of eyes 500 million years ago to the present day. Time after time, it reveals, inventions that changed how people saw the world ended up changing it altogether.

Twenty-first-century life is more visual than ever, and seeing overwhelmingly dominates our senses. Can our eyes keep up with technology? Have we gone as far as the eye can see?