Out in Front: July 4, 1996

The Museum of Science, Boston, is hosting "Seeing the Unseen: Dr Harold Edgerton and the Wonders of Strobe Alley" through Oct 13, 1996. The exhibit features the high-speed- photography techniques that Dr Harold Edgerton, a legendary Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientist, pioneered. Edgerton perfected the stroboscope and electronic flash to develop new ways of seeing things that were previously imperceptible to the naked eye. In addition to the techniques he used for his famous "Frozen Milk" photo, Edgerton also developed aerial-strobe photography techniques, which the US Army used during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, and a side-scan sonar for underwater photography and mapping.

The exhibit highlights Edgerton's stop-motion images, including a hummingbird in flight and the first millionth of a second of a nuclear blast. It also features interactive demo stations typical of those Edgerton used in his laboratories, laboratory teaching stations, a strobe-activity area, CD-ROM stations, a display of Edgerton's original equipment, and a 15-minute video on Edgerton's life and work. The exhibit will travel to various science museums countrywide.

—by Lisa Melsted

Museum of Science, Boston, MA. (617) 589-0250, fax (617) 589-0454, http://www.mos.org..