"A winner...Who knew that shadows could be so illuminating?"

--THE SAN DIEGO UNION.TRIBUNE

"Striking Shadows succeeds in throwing a little light on the Dark Side."

--SEED

"Very informative...Well written and broad ranging."

--ST.PETERSBURG

In this original, wide-ranging, and endlessly thought-provoking work of popular science, Roberto Casati explores the pervasive presence of shadows in our world.

For Plato, shadows were symbols of our limitations. For Galileo, they knocked the Earth from the center of the cosmos. They are a source of fear and a symbol of ignorance, and they loom large in art and design, mythology and folklore, physics and metaphysics, and architecture and urban planning. From shadow puppets and the psychology of shadow perception to the role of shadows in astronomy and their influence on the architectural profiles of our cities, Casati awakens our fascination in this tour de force of investigation and imagination.

    Ⅰ  In the Beginning There Was Shadow

Part One THE HEART OF SHADOW

    Ⅱ  Ancient and Modern Shadows

    Ⅲ  Shadow Merchants

    Ⅳ  Shadows on the Mind

    Ⅴ  Shadow of a Doubt

Part Two SHADOWS IN THE SKY

    Ⅵ  Special Effects

    Ⅶ  Eclipses, Shadow Cones, and Pyramids

    Ⅷ  The Stolen Sundial

    Ⅸ  In the Shadow of the Minaret

    Ⅹ  Time Flies Out Through the Hole in a Shadow

Part Three THE CENTURY OF SHADOW

    Ⅺ  Shadow Wars

    Ⅻ  Venus Imitates the Shadow of Diana

   ⅩⅢ Maybe Saturn Devoured His Own Children?

   ⅩⅣ The Speed of Shadow

Part Four SHADOW VISIONS

   ⅩⅤ The Shadow Line and the Shadowy Rays

   ⅩⅥ Shadow Webs

   ⅩⅦ Shadow Lessons

   ⅩⅧ  Memories from the Hereafter

FINALE

      The Discovery of Shadow

      Appendix: Shadow News, Shadow Facts

      Bibliographic Notes

      Acknowledgments

      Index of Names