Dennis Gabor’s invention of holography in the 1940s earned the physicist a Nobel prize. Development of the laser popularized holograms starting in the ’60s. Yet, much of what passes as holography—including the recent Tupac resurrection—is actually a centuries-old optical trick known as Pepper’s ghost.  Pictured, Hungarian-born British physicist Professor Dennis Gabor (left) receives the 1971 Nobel Prize for Physics from King Gustav Adolf of Sweden.

Dennis Gabor’s invention of holography in the 1940s earned the physicist a Nobel prize. Development of the laser popularized holograms starting in the ’60s. Yet, much of what passes as holography—including the recent Tupac resurrection—is actually a centuries-old optical trick known as Pepper’s ghost.  Pictured, Hungarian-born British physicist Professor Dennis Gabor (left) receives the 1971 Nobel Prize for Physics from King Gustav Adolf of Sweden.

Photograph by Keystone/Getty Images

Holographic History