The Art of Science

Follow the story of scientific discovery through the images that have made it come to life.

Making images by hand has always been part of science. Throughout history, scientists and artists have created images to capture what they see and communicate their ideas. That tradition is alive and well today.

In this beautiful book, you will find:

More than 400 drawings, paintings, and other original artworks that span the millennia and human culturesInsightful text that sets the images in context, profiles the men and women who made them, and explains how they changed scienceContemporary artworks and modern scientific images – including photographs, X-rays, and space telescope images – that explain the science and show features that were hidden from the people who made the original images

The Art of Science draws on a wealth of images from all areas of natural history and science, from plants to the human body and Earth science to astronomy and physics. They include images from landmark books such as Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks, Alexander von Humboldt’s Kosmos, John James Audubon’s Birds of America, and Charles Darwin’s Zoology of the Voyage of HMS Beagle.

Incredible images record historic leaps forward in understanding – such as the first time cells and their nuclei were seen through a microscope or the Moon’s craters were seen through a telescope. Modern artworks and photographic images explain our current understanding of the ideas encapsulated in the artworks, showcasing where scientific understanding has moved on but also, incredibly, where the people who made the original images were exactly right.

The book opens with an introduction that traces the history of collaboration between artists and scientists and shows how visual communication has moved forward in step with the invention of instruments such as the microscope. It also reveals the transformative effect of the technology for printing and reproduction – from woodblock to the printing press, engraving, and lithography.

A visual history of scientific thought, The Art of Science proves that works of science can also be works of artistry and beauty.

DK would like to thank all the scientists, curators, and historians of science and art who helped to put this book together: Dr Geoffrey Belknap, Tony Allan, Dr Katy Barrett, Dr Richard Bellis, Dr Laura Gray Blair, Carrie Gibson, Dr Thea Goldring, Joel Levy, Philip Parker, Giles Sparrow, Dr Eleanor Stephenson, and Marcus Weeks.