Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-268) and index.

In which I made a bad prediction -- What do we mean by "invisible"? -- Science meets fiction -- Invisible rays, invisible monsters -- Light comes out of the darkness -- Light goes sideways -- Magnets and currents and light, oh, my! -- Waves and wells -- What's in an atom? -- The last of the great quantum skeptics -- Seeing inside -- A wolf on the hunt -- Materials not found in nature -- Invisibility cloaks appear -- Things get weird -- More than hiding -- Appendix A: How to make your own invisibility device! -- Appendix B: Invisibibliography.

"Is it possible for something or someone to be made invisible? This question, which has intrigued authors of science fiction for over a century, has become a headline-grabbing topic of scientific research. In this book, science writer and optical physicist Gregory J. Gbur traces the science of invisibility from its sci-fi origins in the nineteenth-century writings of authors such as H. G. Wells and Fitz James O'Brien to modern stealth technology, invisibility cloaks, and metamaterials. He explores the history of invisibility and its science and technology connections, including the discovery of the electromagnetic spectrum, the development of the atomic model, and quantum theory. He shows how invisibility has moved from fiction to reality, and he questions the hidden paths that lie ahead for researchers."-- Provided by publisher.