FROM PHOTONS TO BITS

There are many ways to record optical images. One might describe Paleolithic cave paintings as the earliest imaging technology. As significant as they probably were to those who made and lived with them, these depictions were limited by the artist's skill and time, and only persons who entered the cave could benefit from them. It was not until the coming of the printing press that a particular image could be made available to a wide audience. But even then one was still dependent on the artistic skill and subjective vision of the individual artist. © 1992, American Institute of Physics. All rights reserved.