"Delving into mythology, religion, philosophy, painting, and science, 'Light' captures the wonder and awe of humanity's study of light across three millennia of discovery"--Front jacket flap.

"This light is come" : myths of creation and first light -- "The thing you call light" : early philosophers from Greece to China -- :The highest bliss" : the millennium of divine radiance -- "A glass like a glittering star" : Islam's Golden Age -- "Bright is the noble edifice" : paradise in the Middle Ages -- Chiaro e scuro : light and dark on canvas -- "Investigate with me what light is" : the Scientific Revolution and the Century of Celestial Light -- "In my darken'd chamber" : Isaac Newton and "Opticks" -- "A wild and harmonized tune" : the Romantics and the light seductive -- Undulations : particle vs. wave -- Lumière : France's dazzling century -- "Little globe of sunshine" : electricity conquers the night -- c: Einstein and the quanta, particle, and wave -- "Catching up with our dreams" : lasers and other everyday wonders.