Overview

Venerated as god and goddess, feared as demon and pestilence, trusted as battle omen, and used as a proving ground for optical theories, the rainbow is woven into the fabric of our past and present. From antiquity to the 20th century, the rainbow has helped inspire and test new ideas about the physical world. Although scientists today understand the rainbow's optics fairly well, its subtle variability in nature has yet to be fully explored. Throughout history the rainbow has been seen primarily as a symbol - of peace, covenant, or divine sanction - rather than as a natural phenomenon. Lee and Fraser discuss the role the rainbow has played in societies throughout the ages, surveying its different guises as a sign of optimism, bearer of Greek gods' messages of war and retribution, and as symbol of the Judeo-Christian bridge to the divine. The authors traverse the bridges between the rainbow's various roles as they explore its scientific, artistic, and folkloric visions. This book, exploring the rainbow from the perspectives of atmospheric optics, art history, colour theory and mythology, should inspire readers to look at the rainbow anew.

Full Product Details

Author:   Raymond L. Lee Jr. (US Naval Academy) ,  Alistair B. Fraser
Publisher:   Pennsylvania State University Press
Imprint:   Pennsylvania State University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 21.60cm , Height: 2.90cm , Length: 27.90cm
Weight:   1.928kg
ISBN:  

9780271019772

ISBN 10:   0271019778
Pages:   408
Publication Date:   01 July 2001
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Reviews

Lee and Fraser are masters of prose, and their book is sumptuously produced and abundantly illustrated. They are to be congratulated for producing not only a definitive rainbow scholarship but also a gorgeous work of cultural synthesis. Michael Berry, Physics Review

Lee and Fraser combine informative text, images, and diagrams in this eclectic survey of cultural and scientific perspectives on the interaction between sunlight and raindrops. </p>--<em>Science</em></p>

<p> The Rainbow Bridge is an outstanding book.<p>A treasure, and a treasure trove. <p>--Jack Harris, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews

Author Information

Raymond L. Lee, Jr. is adjunct professor in the Mathematics and Science Division at the U. S. Naval Academy. He has contributed articles to Applied Optics, Journal of the Optical Society of America, Color Research and Application, and New Scientist. Alistair Fraser is professor emeritus of Meteorology at Penn State. His articles have appeared in Smithsonian, Reader's Digest, Scientific American, and Weatherwise.

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