Ted,
Here is a copy of a letter that I wrote, but never sent to SciAm. I
made several references to articles you may or may have not seen.
Both of the _Camera_Arts_ articles (Cordier; Moers) contain
instructions.
December 22, 1991
Mr. Jonathan Piel
Editor
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.
415 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Dear Mr. Piel,
My enthusiasm at seeing not one but two articles on
photographic processes in the November 1991 issue of your
magazine, "Chromoskedasic Painting," by Dominic Man-Kit Lam and
Bryant W. Rossiter and "The Amateur Scientist" by Lam and
Alexandra J. Barna, turned quickly to dismay.
While Lam and Rossiter claim to have "discovered
serendipitously one autumn evening in 1980" the process they call
"chromoskedasic painting" the process is hardly new. Pirre
Cordier claims to have invented the process in 1956. Cordier's
images, he called them Chemigrams, were displayed years before
the 1980 date claimed by Lam and Rossiter. Photographer Denny
Moers has published work made using negatives and a similar
process that he has dated 1979 (see enclosed: "Art & Alchemy;
Chemigrams by Pierre Cordier." Camera Arts, Dec. 1982.; "Brushes
with Light; Photographs by Denny Moers." and "Brushes with Light,
Explained." both from Camera Arts, Nov./Dec. 1981.).
Appropriation and misatribution were not the articles only
faults. Lam and Rossiter's `scientific' explanation was vague,
at least, nonexistent at best, "Scientists still do not
understand in detail how the size and shape of the particles
influence the scattering of light and hence the colors of
chromoskedasic paintings." A description of Lam's procedures for
investigating the properties of the process were also lacking.
All in all the article seems to me like more of a plug for Lam's
book than anything else.
In "The Amateur Scientist Column" Lam and co-author Barna
advised the reader that "The method utilizes commonly available
photographic supplies," then they repeatedly emphasize the use of
Kodak chemicals and papers. Kodak is hardly the only
manufacturer of B/W paper and the formulations that Lam uses are
widely published and can be formulated from scratch or purchased
from numerous suppliers. No formulas were given and no other
suppliers mentioned. The column smacks of favoritism towards
Kodak made all the more inappropriate when it is considered that
Lam's other coauthor, Rossiter, is a Kodak employee.
Your publication covers a broad range of topics and is
geared to a wide range of readers both scientists and non-
scientists; credibility is thus of utmost importance. In this
case you have touched upon a field with which I am familiar and
failed to provide unbiased and factual information - I hope this
is not a trend. As it stands, I will think twice before buying
your magazine in the future.
>===for PGP Key finger Greg Schmitz <gws1@cunix.cc.columbia.edu>===
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