Book excerpt: Beyond the Image Machine: A History of Visual Technologies is an eloquent and stimulating argument for an alternative history of scientific and technological imaging systems. It explores the ways in which the technological medium through which a piece of visual art is rendered contributes significantly to the experience of the human looking at it. Through a series of studies of individual art works, David Tomas gives a fascinating and wholly original account of the relationship between visual technology and human sensory perception. Illustrated throughout, the book draws on a range of hitherto marginalised examples from the world of visual representation. In examining these art works and, it draws upon the work of such key theorists as Latour, de Certeau, Mc Luhan and Barthes. Beyond the Image Machine is an original and contribution to the study of visual culture and the technologies that mediate it. It is a book that changes the terms of the debate and redefines the discipline. Anyone studying, teaching or researching in this area will find it a rich source of ideas and inspiration.