River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West
320 pages
|Published: 1 Jan 2003
|Editions
|Details
This edition
ISBN: 9780142004104
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Publisher: Penguin Books
Publication date: 2 March 2004
Description
The world as we know it today began in California in the late 1800s, and Eadweard Muybridge had a lot to do with it. This striking assertion is at the heart of Rebecca Solnit’s new book, which weaves together biography, history, and fascinating insights into art and technology to create a boldly original portrait of America on the threshold of modernity. The story of Muybridge—who in 1872 succeeded in capturing high-speed motion photographically—becomes a lens for a larger story about the acceleration and industrialization of everyday life. Solnit shows how the peculiar freedoms and opportunities of post–Civil War California led directly to the two industries—Hollywood and Silicon Valley—that have most powerfully defined contemporary society.
