"Light Fantastic" Movie Review

"Light Fantastic" was one of the best movies I've watched in school. I thought that Simon Schaffer was an exemplary host, who succeeded in providing the viewers with knowledge while bringing his own personality to the screen. I think what I liked the most about this film was the connection of both science and history; the physics behind light and the social impacts of light were represented simultaneously. I had never know that Impetecles, a Sicilian philosopher, doctor, and poet, was the first man to really contemplate the meaning of light, but learning of his discoveries was really interesting. Impetecles believed taht we see objects because light streams out of our eyes toward them. This idea probably seemed logical during the time of the Ancient Greeks, and even though it is not completely accurate, it was a great bounce point for future scientists to build off of. I think the best part of the movie began when Simon Schaffer talked about the Islamic takeover of the Greek views. Scholars of Islam translated, edited, and debated the optical and light ideas of the Greeks and Alhowzen (probably spelled wrong) was one of the most influential men in the history of light studies. I think Alhowzen became all the more interesting because I had never heard of him. He is definitely an underappreciated member of the physics community, who deserves a lot of respect. He refuted Impetecles ideas and established his own. Alhowzen discovered that rays travel through space in straight lines to our eyes. As he sat in jail, he studied light and established the laws of reflection and refraction. I thought it was interesting that the Islamic scholars were eager to understand light because it was a link to religion, but the militant Christians wanted it more to empower Europe. They believed taht light equaled divinity. When Simon Schaffer talked about the 13th Century Fransican Friar Roger Bacon, he did a superb job linking science and religion. Bacon was obsessed with the rainbow and he was able to explain this miracle through natural laws. His dedication to his field was religioius suicide; he was exiled to Paris for his works. During this segment of the film, I learned that rainbows are a result of reflection and refraction in individual droplets of water. This was extremely interesting because the awesomeness of the rainbow became more apparent. Overall, I would highly reccomend this film. I thought that the entire presentation was exceptional, and it really substantiated the light ray! I hope we continue to watch this film in class.

Good choice Mr. D'Amato!