PSYCHOLOGY: Making Light of Darkness Visible

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THIS YEAR, 1995, marks the 60th anniversary of fluorescent light. I mention this only because it is one of the few events in the brief history of man's victory over darkness that A Alvarez has omitted from his wide-ranging, often intriguing accou nt of night and its meanings.

In his preface Alvarez likens his research to "pulling out a conjurer's handkerchief: one thing leads to another in an unending, outlandish chain". The analogy holds good for the book, which is constructed with considerable cunning. A history of artificial light, from the first fire-making to electric streetlamps, provokes thoughts on lighting in Caravaggio and the uses of darkness in Shakespeare. …