John Henry PepperBorn 17 Jun 1821; died 25 Mar 1900 at age 78.English chemist and lecturer who invented the “Pepper’s Ghost” illusion used on stage to provide the effect of an actor appearing as a transparent image and disappearing by fading away. It used a large sheet of plate glass on stage, inclined at a 45 degree angle to the floor. The use of special lighting enabled the audience to see the reflection of an actor placed offstage, out of the direct view of the audience. Pepper first learned to use showmanship to audiences at London's Royal Polytechnic Institution to present fast-paced, amazing experimental demonstrations to increase the public’s understanding of phenomena in physics and chemistry. In the 1870s, he expanded his activities to a global audience by touring Australia, Canada, and the United States.« |
