Super Vision: A New View of Nature

by Ivan Amato

Spanning the world of scientific phenomena from sub-atomic particles to the structure of the universe, a selection of two hundred scientific images draws on an array of modern scientific imaging instruments and techniques to explore the rich beauty and vast complexity of nature. 15,000 first printing.

Genres: Nature

232 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Spencer Distraction · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful imagery. I found this for $5 at a SF library sale, yay! I wouldn't pay full price for it, because, like another reviewer said, you can find all kinds of imagery like this on the net. Although, the images of hydra, x-rayed nautilus shells, extreme close-ups of cells like floating strands ov thread, muscle tissue like etherial, striated fields of OTHER, etc etc, are stunning. Some of it reminds me of older 4AD artwork by Vaughan Oliver/V23. The mushroom-like images on the cover are actually individual spider's webs!

[Last Ranger · Rating 5 out of 5]

The All-Seeing Eye!

This stunning coffee-table book takes you on a tour of the Cosmos, from the smallest guitar in the world to the edge of the known universe. Humans are born with a sensory tool kit with which we perceive the world around us: sight, sound and touch all give us the basic information we need to survive. But there are a multitude of things that exist beyond the range of our senses, things that are too small or large, too hot or cold, too close or too far away. If we want to observe these things we need a technological boost. Starting out with a brief history of the search for something to extend our senses, from microscopes to telescopes and beyond, author Ivan Amato shows you things that boggle the mind with beauty and strangeness that should awe even the most jaded reader. After the short introductory text you come to the pictures, and what glorious pictures they are. Sub-atomic particles, atoms, crystals, bacteria and viruses. Human brain cells, snowflakes and the Hydrogen Bomb at the moment of detonation. Yes, there are thing that happen too fast for us to see or that we dare not look-at at all. Moving into the range of the very distant we find a Martian desert, Jupiter's moon Io and the Pillars of Creation. I call books like this "eye-candy" but don't just flip through it, take a good look and read the captions, appreciate where the pictures came from and how they got there. Don't forget to read the foreword by physicist Philip Morrison for insight on how professional scientist feel about the pictures and the technology that made them possible. Please note this is not the kind of book that you read, cover to cover, in one setting. You may want to take it in a little at a time, as I did, over a two or three week period. In the end I was more than satisfied with this peek a what lies just beyond our sensory limits.
Last Ranger

[Brendan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of nice pictures, but, you can see all of this ( and more ) on the net. ( Why do they still keep printing books like this ? )