From the mastery of fire a million years ago, humans repeatedly invented new ways to see their surroundings, each other and themselves. Artificial light, early art, mirrors, writing, lenses, printing, photography, film, television, smartphones. These tools didn't just add to our visual repertoire, they shaped Western culture and made us who we are.
As Far As the Eye Can See traces the history of seeing using eleven inventions, from the first evolutionary stirrings of sight to the present. It reveals that with each new invention that changed how or what we see, we changed ourselves, and the world around us. Visual technologies propelled the human journey from walking apes to masters of nature to self-obsessed screen junkies. And with each revolution in seeing, sight slowly eclipsed our other senses. Having come this far, Denham asks, are we now at peak seeing? Can our eyes keep up with technology's relentless march? Have we gone as far as the eye can see?
