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John Henry Pepper was a
chemical engineer who joined the Royal Polytechnic Institute in
London as a lecturer in 1848, giving talks on "The Wonders of
Optical Science". The Royal Polytechnic Institute
was really a permanent science fair, an exhibit hall leased by a
series of directors to display new "scientific wonders" in a
P.T. Barnum sort of way. In 1854, the Institute titled him as
"Professor Pepper", and he became the director of the
exhibition hall. Pepper
is often credited with inventing the incredible "Pepper's
Ghost" illusion, a fantastic bit of theater in which a
transparent holographic image (a "ghost") can be made to
appear onstage, alongside flesh-and-blood actors. This innovation
was so important that the core concept is still used today, on the
Broadway stage as well as in major theme parks like Disney World and
Knott's Berry Farm- and in the Hugh Jackman film The Illusionist.
In reality, the illusion was the brainchild of inventor Henry Dircks.
Pepper just came up with a better way to exhibit it. (In fairness,
Pepper always gave Dircks his proper credit. Apparently, the name
"Pepper's Ghost" just had a nice ring to it).
Pepper then developed an illusion called Metempsychosis, in which a
statue comes to life (an effect also featured in The Illusionist).
Pepper so enjoyed
explaining science with magic that he toured for several years with
his Ghost Show.
See
how the illusion works
Enjoy
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