Holograms

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding [or reflecting]
the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image
from one degree of glory to another. (2 Cor. 3:18 ESV)

Holograms are now used in many products, mostly as a security measure to help prevent forgery of credit cards or even of some currency. When I examined my credit cards last evening, one popular card showed a silvery image of a white dove in flight with wings outstretched. By examining it under a small light source, I could see that it was a 3-D image of the dove, and by tilting the card slightly from side to side it even appeared to flap its wings a little bit.

The first holograms required laser light in the production and in the viewing of them (since then viewing in ordinary light has been made possible). About thirty-five years ago, several of my students tried making some. It was a very exacting process, and we were not successful with our limited apparatus. Details about the procedure can be found on the web sites listed at the end of the article.

I have seen some very remarkable holographic displays in museums. One such circular hologram depicted the head of a young lady, and as you walked around the film, you could see her whole head from every angle just as if she were in the center of the circle of film. Her eyes even appeared to follow you as you moved.

The first experience of seeing this was breathtaking for me. When you looked over the edge of the holographic film, you saw nothing but empty space in the center of the circle. When the light used to illuminate the hologram was turned off, the image disappeared.

Suppose the film were to be cut up into a bunch of small 1" squares, for example, and handed out to the people looking on. If you were there, as you looked through your piece of the film, you would see the lady's entire head in 3-D from a particular angle. For example you might see the head from her right side. Another person might see the back of her head.

By swapping around the squares with each other, you would be able to see the image from every angle and acquire a complete picture of how the lady really looked. In like manner, every person on earth has been given a particular unique view of our creator, and as we share with each other about what we have seen and heard of him, we learn more and more about his glorious self, the unlimited treasure of our maker.

You can read more about the details at BrightMysteries.net and at TinyURL.com/BrtMys.
You can e-mail Boyd at BrightMysteries@verizon.net .

By the way, as usual, this article is copyrighted by the Caroline Progress, Bowling Green, VA,
and so it should not be published without their permission.  It is posted here with their permission.