American Independence Day is a real banger of a holiday, given a tradition of fireworks as old as the country itself. But “illuminations,” as they are sometimes called, have been a surefire method of celebrating human achievement (and scaring animals) since ancient times. Credit goes to China for inventing the explosive effusions in the seventh century and a more primitive bamboo-based firecracker, believed to ward off evil spirits, around 200 B.C.

No wonder pyrotechnic shows evoke a childlike, perhaps primal, response of awe and delight, sending gasps up to the…