In her recently published book Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light,nJane Brox presents a retelling of the social history of lighting. A retelling thatnis both helped and limited by the author’s distance from the underlyingntechnology. Helped because the view is that of the interested and capablennon-specialist; limited because of the inevitable tincturing by uncertaintynand wariness. Brox uses secondary sources exclusively and thus cannot butnproduce something that is largely derivative. Nevertheless, the style isncomfortable, the vocabulary that of the general reading public, the bare factsnembellished with reasonably imagined and engaging examples fromnhistorical daily life, and the book is offered by a major publishing house [1].nAs such, it is both a bellwether for and influence on the public perception ofnlighting and should be read by lighting professionals.
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