Lancelot Hogben is a blue-eyed, tousel-haired British biologist of 42 who once occupied a chair of Social Biology at the University of London, and who has educated himself in many fields of science.

The heart of the gadget is a TV picture tube shrunk to the size of a small flashlight. But for the person who straps it on his head, the Hughes Aircraft Company’s “Electrocular” does a giant-sized job ...