To round out the International Year of Light, the Tools of Science meeting last Friday took the form of a hands-on holography workshop led by Dr Margaret Wegener.
Margaret had also been involved in the Light Play exhibition in the UQ Art Museum, and participants had a chance for a last look at that before it closed.
It featured a large white light reflection hologram by celebrated Australian artist Paula Dawson as inspiration.
Eighteen participants, ranging from retirees to school students, were able to make classic transmission holograms using Litiholo 'instant' holographic recording plates and diode lasers.
Margaret had been running workshops for school groups through the year, and was pretty relaxed and confident.
The photo shows one of the setups illuminated by a 'safe' blue laser diode. Everyone set up and started exposures in the dark, and we repaired to the Physics Museum to talk about holograms and lasers for about twenty minutes.
On our return, all the setups had produced holograms that could be 'reconstructed' using the same diode laser as was used for the recording.
Everyone was happy. (thanks to R.I. for the photos)
