Eadweard Muybridge (born as Edward Muggeridge) was a pioneer in the field of stop motion photography. He was the man who invented a process that allowed him to sequentially photograph a galloping horse to prove that at certain instances all four legs were off the ground. Muybridge performed this feat at the behest of railroad Tycoon and politician Leland Stanford. Horses were a hobby of Stanford's. Stanford led the Central Pacific Railroad in the building of the western section of the transcontinental railroad and was Governor and later, U.S. Senator for California. Muybridge married Flora Stone in 1872. A couple years later he discovered his wife's infidelities with a drama critic named Harry Larkyns. Muybridge tracked him down to Calistoga, California and shot him point blank in the chest. At the trial Muybridge's attorneys used an insanity defense based on a serious head injury suffered many years prior. He was acquitted on the grounds of "justifiable homicide." While the stories of these two men are interesting and their connection important, the execution of those stories was less than satisfactory. The author jumps back & forth in time in a way that seems random and is often confusing. The audiobook is adequately performed by John H. Mayer.
No comments:
Post a Comment