Sean F. Johnston's Books

Holograms

A Cultural History

By: Sean Johnston

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Holograms have been in the public eye for over a half-century, but their influences have deeper cultural roots. No other visual experience is quite like interacting with holograms; no other cultural product melds the technological sublime with magic and optimism in quite the same way. As holograms have evolved, they have left their audiences alternately fascinated, bemused, inspired or indifferent. From expressions of high science to countercultural art to consumer security, holograms have represented modernity, magic and materialism. Their most pervasive impact has been to galvanise hopeful technological dreams. Engineers, artists, hippies and hobbyists have played with, and dreamed about, holograms. This book explores how holograms found a place in distinct cultural settings. It is aimed at readers attracted to pop culture, visual studies and cultural history, scholars concerned with media history, fine art and material studies and, most of all, cross-disciplinary audiences intrigued about how this ubiquitous but still-mysterious visual medium grew up in our midst and became entangled in our culture. This book explores the technical attractions and cultural uses of the hologram, how they were shaped by what came before them, and how they have matured to shape our notional futures. Today, holograms are in our pockets (as identity documents) and in our minds (as gaming fantasies and 'faux hologram' performers). Why aren't they more often in front of our eyes?

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Page Count

271

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0198712766

ISBN 13

9780198712763

Holographic Visions

A History of New Science

By: Sean F. Johnston

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Holographic Visions

A History of New Science

By: Sean F. Johnston

Holography exploded on the scientific world in 1964, but its slow fuse had been burning much longer. Over the next four decades, the echoes of that explosion reached scientists, engineers, artists and popular culture. Emerging from classified military research, holography evolved to represent the power of post-war physics, an aesthetic union of art and science, the countercultural meanderings of holism, a cottage industry for waves of would-be entrepreneurs and a fertile plot device for science fiction. New working cultures sprang up to mutate holography, redefining its products, reshaping its audiences and reconceiving its applications. The outcomes included ever more sublime holograms and exquisitely sensitive measuring techniques - but also priority disputes, prurience and poisonous business rivalries. New subjects cross intellectual borders, and so do their explanations. This book draws on the history and philosophy of science and technology, social studies, politics and cultural history to trace the trajectory of holography. The result is an in-depth account of how new science emerges. Based on unprecedented interviews with pioneer holographers and extensive archival research, it reveals how science, technology, art and wider culture are entwined in the modern world.

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541

Publisher

OUP Oxford

Published Date

ISBN 10

0191513881

ISBN 13

9780191513886

The Neutron's Children

Nuclear Engineers and the Shaping of Identity

By: Sean F. Johnston

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The Neutron's Children

Nuclear Engineers and the Shaping of Identity

By: Sean F. Johnston

The first nuclear engineers emerged from the Manhattan Project in the USA, UK and Canada, but remained hidden behind security for a further decade. Cosseted and cloistered by their governments, they worked to explore applications of atomic energy at a handful of national labs. This unique bottom-up history traces how the identities of these unusually voiceless experts - forming a uniquely state-managed discipline - were shaped in the context of pre-war nuclear physics, wartime industrial management, post-war politics and utopian energy programmes. Even after their eventual emergence at universities and companies, nuclear workers carried the enduring legacy of their origins. Their shared experiences shaped not only their identities, but our collective memories of the late twentieth century. And as illustrated by the Fukushima accident seven decades after the Manhattan project began, this book explains why they are still seen conflictingly as selfless heroes or as mistrusted guardians of a malevolent genie.

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Page Count

328

Publisher

OUP Oxford

Published Date

ISBN 10

0191631930

ISBN 13

9780191631931

Fields Virology: RNA Viruses

By: Peter M. Howley,David M. Knipe,Sean Whelan,Eric O. Freed

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Fields Virology: RNA Viruses

By: Peter M. Howley,David M. Knipe,Sean Whelan,Eric O. Freed

Now in four convenient volumes, Field’s Virology remains the most authoritative reference in this fast-changing field, providing definitive coverage of virology, including virus biology as well as replication and medical aspects of specific virus families. This volume of Field’s Virology: RNA Viruses, Seventh Edition covers the latest information on RNA viruses, how they cause disease, how they can cause epidemics and pandemics, new therapeutics and vaccine approaches, as provided in new or extensively revised chapters that reflect these advances in this dynamic field. Bundled with the eBook, which will be updated regularly as new information about each virus is available, this text serves as the authoritative, up-to-date reference book for virologists, infectious disease specialists, microbiologists, and physicians, as well as medical students pursuing a career in infectious diseases.

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Page Count

2471

Publisher

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Published Date

ISBN 10

197511261X

ISBN 13

9781975112615

A History of Light and Colour Measurement

Science in the Shadows

By: Sean F. Johnston

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A History of Light and Colour Measurement

Science in the Shadows

By: Sean F. Johnston

2003 Paul Bunge Prize of the Hans R. Jenemann Foundation for the History of Scientific Instruments Judging the brightness and color of light has long been contentious. Alternately described as impossible and routine, it was beset by problems both technical and social. How trustworthy could such measurements be? Was the best standard of inten

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Page Count

285

Publisher

CRC Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1420034774

ISBN 13

9781420034776

History of Science

A Beginner's Guide

By: Sean F. Johnston

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History of Science

A Beginner's Guide

By: Sean F. Johnston

From magic to the Enlightenment; Darwinism to nuclear weapons Weaving together intellectual history, philosophy, and social studies, Sean Johnston offers a unique appraisal of the history of science and the nature of this evolving discipline. Science is all-encompassing and new developments are usually mired in controversy; nevertheless, it is a driving force of the modern world. Based on its past, where might it lead us in the twenty-first century?

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Page Count

231

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

1780741596

ISBN 13

9781780741598

Techno-Fixers

Origins and Implications of Technological Faith

By: Sean F. Johnston

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Techno-Fixers

Origins and Implications of Technological Faith

By: Sean F. Johnston

This is the story of a seductive idea. Over the past century, the potential of new technology to solve social dilemmas has captivated modern culture. From apps that encourage physical activity to airport scanners meant to prevent terrorism, the concept that clever innovation can improve society is irresistible, but faith in such technological fixes is seldom questioned. Where did this idea come from, what makes it so appealing, and how does it endanger our future? Techno-Fixers traces the source of modern confidence in technology to engineering hubris, radical utopian movements, science fiction fanzines, policy-makers' soundbites, corporate marketing, and optimistic consumer culture from the turn of the twentieth century until today. Sean Johnston demonstrates that, through the promotion of prominent government scientists, technocrats, entrepreneurs, and popular media, modern invention became the favourite tool for addressing human problems and society's ills. Nonetheless, when it comes to assessing the success of cigarette filters as the solution to safe smoking, or DDT as the answer for agricultural productivity, the evidence is sobering. Cautioning that the rhetoric of technological fixes seldom matches reality, Johnston examines how employing innovation to bypass traditional methods can foster as many problems as it solves. A critical examination of modern faith in technology, Techno-Fixers evaluates past mistakes, present implications, and future opportunities for innovating societies.

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Page Count

324

Publisher

McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published Date

ISBN 10

0228002044

ISBN 13

9780228002048

Holograms

A Cultural History

By: Sean Johnston

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Holograms

A Cultural History

By: Sean Johnston

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271

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0198712766

ISBN 13

9780198712763

Heterodox Shakespeare

By: Sean Benson

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Heterodox Shakespeare

By: Sean Benson

The last quarter century has seen a “turn to religion” in Shakespeare studies as well as competing assertions by secular critics that Shakespeare’s plays reflect profound skepticism and even dismissal of the truth claims of revealed religion. This divide, though real, obscures the fact that Shakespeare often embeds both readings within the same play. This book is the first to propose an accommodation between religious and secular readings of the plays. Benson argues that Shakespeare was neither a mere debunker of religious orthodoxies nor their unquestioning champion. Religious inquiry in his plays is capacious enough to explore religious orthodoxy and unorthodoxy, everything from radical belief and the need to tolerate religious dissent to the possibility of God’s nonexistence. Shakespeare’s willingness to explore all aspects of religious and secular life, often simultaneously, is a mark of his tremendous intellectual range. Taking the heterodox as his focus, Benson examines five figures and ideas on the margins of the post-Reformation English church: nonconforming puritans such as Malvolio as well as physical revenants—the walking dead—whom Shakespeare alludes to and features so tantalizingly in Hamlet. Benson applies what Keats called Shakespeare’s “negative capability”—his ability to treat both sides of an issue equally and without prejudice—to show that Shakespeare considers possible worlds where God is intimately involved in the lives of persons and, in the very same play, a world in which God may not even exist. Benson demonstrates both that the range of Shakespeare’s investigation of religious questions is more daring than has previously been thought, and that the distinction between the sacred and the profane, between the orthodox and the unorthodox, is one that Shakespeare continually engages.

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Page Count

175

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

Published Date

ISBN 10

1683930266

ISBN 13

9781683930266

Techno-Fixers

Origins and Implications of Technological Faith

By: Sean F. Johnston

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Techno-Fixers

Origins and Implications of Technological Faith

By: Sean F. Johnston

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324

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McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published Date

ISBN 10

0228002044

ISBN 13

9780228002048

The Neutron's Children

Nuclear Engineers and the Shaping of Identity

By: Sean F. Johnston

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The Neutron's Children

Nuclear Engineers and the Shaping of Identity

By: Sean F. Johnston

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Page Count

328

Publisher

OUP Oxford

Published Date

ISBN 10

0191631930

ISBN 13

9780191631931

Techno-Fixers

Origins and Implications of Technological Faith

By: Sean F. Johnston

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Techno-Fixers

Origins and Implications of Technological Faith

By: Sean F. Johnston

An engaging study of the history and consequences of technological fixes and the belief that they can overcome social and political problems.

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336

Published Date

ISBN 10

0228001323

ISBN 13

9780228001324

History of Science

A Beginner's Guide

By: Sean F. Johnston

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History of Science

A Beginner's Guide

By: Sean F. Johnston

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Page Count

231

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

1780741596

ISBN 13

9781780741598

Book's by Sean F. Johnston

Holograms

Holograms

Holographic Visions

Holographic Visions

The Neutron's Children

The Neutron's Children

Fields Virology: RNA Viruses

Fields Virology: RNA Viruses

A History of Light and Colour Measurement

A History of Light and Colour Measurement

History of Science

History of Science

Techno-Fixers

Techno-Fixers

Holograms

Holograms

Heterodox Shakespeare

Heterodox Shakespeare

Techno-Fixers

Techno-Fixers

The Neutron's Children

The Neutron's Children

Techno-Fixers

Techno-Fixers

History of Science

History of Science

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