Product Details
Hardcover
232 pages
Harry N. Abrams
Published 2003
From Booklist
Many scientists are inspired by the beauty of the natural world and have a strong desire to bring all of life into crisp focus, hence the creation of such devices and technologies as the telescope, microscope, spectroscopy, X rays, radar, and particle accelerators, all of which greatly extend our visual range, and grant us what prolific science writer Amato calls supervision. Thanks to this capacity, science has become increasingly image driven, a fact celebrated to splendid effect in this gorgeously produced volume. The startling images--the bizarrely pretty budding of a deadly virus, the elegance of a polymer helix, the astonishing complexity of a single heart cell, the surprisingly rough texture of a rose petal, the intricacies of a microchip--are arresting in their richness and grace, resembling in their patterns everything from mandalas to a Van Gogh sky, abstractions by Jackson Pollock, and fantastic landscapes. As nanotechnologies evolve and more images of the universe are beamed back to earth, we'll continue to acquire new perspectives, and, hopefully, new insights. Donna Seaman
Copyright ¬ American Library Association. All rights reserved
Oliver Sacks
"A whole history of science and technology, of seeing and imaging, is contained in this extraordinary book."
Book Description
What does nature really look like? Today, aided by the wizardry of modern scientific imaging instruments, we are able to see far more of the physical world than we ever dreamed possible. These devices can discern millions of invisible colors, look back in cosmic time some 14 billion years, peer behind and within seemingly opaque borders such as skin and bone, and capture events that last a mere trillionth of a second. Looking through their "eyes," we have acquired powers far more potent than Superman's X-ray vision: the powers of Super Vision.
From microscopes to telescopes, from magnetic-field detectors to chemical mapping probes, today's instruments make possible an entirely new view of nature. Super Vision is a comprehensive showcase of 200 breathtaking scientific images that span the world of phenomena from subatomic particles to the incomprehensibly vast structure of the universe. The accompanying text tells readers what they are looking at and explains the underlying technology. Also included is a huge, groundbreaking chart clearly illustrating the relative sizes of objects covered in the book. At once a primer on the scientific worldview and a reminder of the awesome, multidimensional beauty of nature, Super Vision simultaneously informs and delights. |
LuminousLint 
@LuminousLint
