Applications of shadows

The X-ray images of teeth, bones, and the contents of your carry-on bag are
shadows, made by a kind of light that goes through most things, but is
scattered more by dense materials such as metals.

A sundial is a way to measure the position of the sun (and thus determine
the time) by observing its shadow.

The first measurement of the size of the earth was based on the length of
shadows exactly at noon in different places. For the shadow lengths to be
very different, you have to go north a significant fraction of the radius of the
earth. Observing the shadow lengths allows the size of the earth to be
calculated.

During an eclipse of the sun, we are briefly in the shadow of the moon;
during an eclipse of the moon, it is passing through the earth's shadow. The
duration of the eclipses was one of the first hints to early astronomers that
the moon is smaller than the earth (but not a lot smaller) and that its distance
from earth is about 100 earth-diameters -- much less than the distance to the
sun.

There is another kind of astronomical shadow that played an important

role. About every 100 years, the planet Venus passes directly in front of the
sun, so that it appears as a small dark region on the sun's disk. From
different places on the surface of the earth, we get different views, and the
path of Venus across the sun's disk is slightly different.  This provided the
first way that astronomers could measure the distance from the earth to the
sun.  The reason that Captain Cook sailed to the South Pacific (accidentally
discovering New Zealand on the way) was to make the transit of Venus that
occurred in 1769.

Everyday shadows

Our shadow dutifully follows us around, and we hardly ever notice it.

Sometimes it looks funny (for a discussion, go here).