Holography has always been a subject combined from distinct visions. Scientists, engineers, artists, artisans and entrepreneurs give divergent accounts. Holography can be dissected into a series of two-dimensional views: an intellectual subject; an imaging technology; a throng of disparate communities; and a cluster of niche markets. It became widely recognized as a subject during the 1960s, but its history has always been contentious. The discordant tales of its past have been told and retold, mutated and disseminated for different audiences, for nearly sixty years. This paper examines some of those perspectives and the disputes, careers and forecasts they influenced.
