Stopping Time

In the early 20th century, a young engineer at MIT changed the way we see the world - literally. Harold “Doc” Edgerton, an electrical engineer with a curious mind and a love for tinkering, set out to study how machinery moved. What he ended up creating was a window into the invisible world of motion, using light itself as his tool.

While experimenting with stroboscopes - devices that emit rapid flashes of light - Edgerton realized that if he synchronized a strobe’s flash with a camera’s shutter, he could freeze movement that was far too fast for the human eye to perceive. The flash lasted only millionths of a second, yet in that brief instant, motion stood perfectly still.

The results were breathtaking. His now-iconic photographs - the Milk Drop Coronet, the Bullet Through Apple, and the Hummingbird in Flight - transformed science into art. Each image revealed an unseen world: a bullet suspended in midair before shattering an apple, or a drop of milk frozen as it blossomed into a delicate crown.

But Edgerton’s work wasn’t just beautiful; it was revolutionary. His techniques reshaped fields from ballistics to biology, helping scientists understand motion in ways never before possible. Later, he even took his strobes underwater, teaming up with Jacques Cousteau to illuminate the deep sea.

Behind his innovations was a simple philosophy: “Work hard. Tell everyone everything you know. Close a deal with a handshake. Have fun.” Edgerton saw science as play, and his play changed how humanity perceives time itself.

Today, every high-speed camera, every slow-motion video, carries a trace of his genius. Harold Edgerton didn’t just take pictures - he stopped time, and in doing so, revealed its beauty.