A bullet seen the instant it explodes through an apple; a perfect coronet formed by a milk-drop splash, a golf-swing in a procession of distinct exposures taken milliseconds apart: these photographs - classics of modern art and science - are the work of Harold Edgerton, inventor of the modern electronic falsh. Edgerton's quest to reveal what the unaided eye cannot see has revolutionized photography.
Edgerton was the first to take high-speed color photographs, to pioneer multi-flash and microsecond imagery, to make nighttime aerial pictures, to record the split seconds of atomic explosions, and to take detailed photos of hummingbirds and live microscopic sea organisms. Edgerton's inventions made possible the flash units that accompany almost every camera today. His wondrous discoveries have shown people things they were never able to see before, in photographs that are as remarkable for their precision as for their sensational beauty. Edgerton has contributed enormously to both art and science.
Edgerton was the first to take high-speed color photographs, to pioneer multi-flash and microsecond imagery, to make nighttime aerial pictures, to record the split seconds of atomic explosions, and to take detailed photos of hummingbirds and live microscopic sea organisms. Edgerton's inventions made possible the flash units that accompany almost every camera today. His wondrous discoveries have shown people things they were never able to see before, in photographs that are as remarkable for their precision as for their sensational beauty. Edgerton has contributed enormously to both art and science.