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Heaven & Earth: Unseen By The Naked Eye
Far beyond the range of the naked human eye exists a realm of growth and symmetry that possesses almost haunting beauty. Microscopes and telescopes can plow this realm, revealing stars too far or particles too small for us to see. Magnified 115 times, kettle limescale blooms in flowerlike clusters. A single pollen grain magnified 5,000 times resembles a beehive fortress and, enlarged and reenlarged, a butterfly wing takes on the aspect of a field of warrior's shields. The Hubble Space Telescope captures the pillars of gas and dust of the Eagle Nebula, 7,000 light-years away. In awesome color photographs, Heaven & Earth presents the universe in a grain of sand and on a scale almost beyond imagination.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published September 25, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 2, 2009
This is a very large (12" x 9.5"), paperback with a slip off book cover. After the brief introduction--there are no chapters--the book just begins. There is a well laid out Table of Contents in the beginning and a neat measurement chart from the approximate size of a gold atom to the distance to Quasar...The book begins with microscopic objects and expands to telescopic views of space. Very cool. Many galaxies, nebula's, black holes, comets, etc.
Every picture is full color with explanations including magnification used. Some examples are:
* E. Coli
* pea leaf chloroplasts
* chromosomes
* melanoma
* human hair
* spider exoskeletons
* blood clot
* fingerprint
* dragonfly eyes
* carotid artery
* human kidney
* San Andreas Fault in California (yikes!)
* Rainforest in central Africa
* Yellow River in China
* Stratocumulus clouds
* storm clouds over Argentina
* x-ray image of sun
* solar prominence
* jupiter's moons
* Milky Way Galaxy
* Nebula's
Every picture is full color with explanations including magnification used. Some examples are:
* E. Coli
* pea leaf chloroplasts
* chromosomes
* melanoma
* human hair
* spider exoskeletons
* blood clot
* fingerprint
* dragonfly eyes
* carotid artery
* human kidney
* San Andreas Fault in California (yikes!)
* Rainforest in central Africa
* Yellow River in China
* Stratocumulus clouds
* storm clouds over Argentina
* x-ray image of sun
* solar prominence
* jupiter's moons
* Milky Way Galaxy
* Nebula's
March 30, 2020
I would give it 6 stars if I could! I've had this book for over 10 years and it's only now that I managed to go through it cover to cover. What an eye-opening experience it has been. From the minutest of things to the grandest of galaxies, this book would be one of fantasies if it weren't for the fact that each of these photographs are of things that actually exist.. only they are beyond the perception of our 'naked' eyes. Makes me extremely thankful for technology, skill and curiosity that has enabled us to go beyond and see the unseen.
January 14, 2020
Fantastic insight of the world around us....
June 4, 2013
A book of middling photos and uninspired writing, there are much better books out there about all the subjects this book is trying to cover.
The first section of the book is about photos from the microscopic world, which are fairly interesting for the most part. However, this is quickly followed by pages upon pages of drab satellite imagery, which is one of the worst and most boring I had ever seen. First and foremost - since the majority of the photos are taken in infrared, instead of lush green vegetation, all you get is blobs of red all over the place. Secondly - in the age of dynamic, zoomable, high resolution digital maps (Google Earth), looking at fuzzy and static satellite imagery taken in the 1970s on a printed page is just plain boring. Accompanied by dry text, reading the book quickly becomes an exercise of how fast can I turn the pages.
Fortunately things pick up a bit in the planetary phase with pictures from around our Solar System. The pictures are once again interesting (even though you've probably seen most of them if you've read a book or two on a similar subject) and the writing becomes more inspired. Unfortunately the authors thought it necessary to leave many of the pages opposite a photo of a planet just plain black. I guess they wanted to convey a feeling of vastness, but as a reader, I'd much rather see all those black pages filled with text and pictures than pay for black ink on an empty page.
The one interesting decision by the authors is to include historical imagery, including both microscopic and telescopic photos taken in the 1880s. Certainly not something you'll see every day, so I appreciated the variety it introduced.
Overall, I had high hopes for this book but was ultimately disappointed. Some pictures were interesting and many were understandably recycled (after all, we've only had a few space probes to take close up photos of Neptune and Uranus for example), but too many of the photos were drab, fuzzy and boring, whereas much better alternatives would have been available. Coupled with mostly dry and boring writing, I can only rate this book three stars out of five.
(I understand there is also a much smaller paperback version available, but this review is based on the large format hard cover version of the book.)
The first section of the book is about photos from the microscopic world, which are fairly interesting for the most part. However, this is quickly followed by pages upon pages of drab satellite imagery, which is one of the worst and most boring I had ever seen. First and foremost - since the majority of the photos are taken in infrared, instead of lush green vegetation, all you get is blobs of red all over the place. Secondly - in the age of dynamic, zoomable, high resolution digital maps (Google Earth), looking at fuzzy and static satellite imagery taken in the 1970s on a printed page is just plain boring. Accompanied by dry text, reading the book quickly becomes an exercise of how fast can I turn the pages.
Fortunately things pick up a bit in the planetary phase with pictures from around our Solar System. The pictures are once again interesting (even though you've probably seen most of them if you've read a book or two on a similar subject) and the writing becomes more inspired. Unfortunately the authors thought it necessary to leave many of the pages opposite a photo of a planet just plain black. I guess they wanted to convey a feeling of vastness, but as a reader, I'd much rather see all those black pages filled with text and pictures than pay for black ink on an empty page.
The one interesting decision by the authors is to include historical imagery, including both microscopic and telescopic photos taken in the 1880s. Certainly not something you'll see every day, so I appreciated the variety it introduced.
Overall, I had high hopes for this book but was ultimately disappointed. Some pictures were interesting and many were understandably recycled (after all, we've only had a few space probes to take close up photos of Neptune and Uranus for example), but too many of the photos were drab, fuzzy and boring, whereas much better alternatives would have been available. Coupled with mostly dry and boring writing, I can only rate this book three stars out of five.
(I understand there is also a much smaller paperback version available, but this review is based on the large format hard cover version of the book.)
August 1, 2014
Microscopic examination of my brain after reading this book would reveal boggling.
I loved the late lamented Buxton Micrarium and some of this book took me back to happy times there watching crystals forming 'while you wait'. It is an interesting approach to go from sub-atomic to the Hubble deep field in a single volume... I could almost hear the whooshing noise. The focus is on the images - there's an introduction and then introductions to each of the sections as you move from the smallest to the largest. A goodly number of the images or subjects are perhaps quite well known but that didn't bother me. The descriptions are brief - I don't know whether they were rather flat or simply letting the images shine. I found it particularly interesting to see old photographs of the Moon's surface.
I did find it hard to get my head round the manipulations involved and the degree to which images may be an artefact, including being coloured. I wondered if this could be a political distortion, conscious or otherwise. Certainly the images create an impression and it shows wonderfully the art in the scientific.
I loved the late lamented Buxton Micrarium and some of this book took me back to happy times there watching crystals forming 'while you wait'. It is an interesting approach to go from sub-atomic to the Hubble deep field in a single volume... I could almost hear the whooshing noise. The focus is on the images - there's an introduction and then introductions to each of the sections as you move from the smallest to the largest. A goodly number of the images or subjects are perhaps quite well known but that didn't bother me. The descriptions are brief - I don't know whether they were rather flat or simply letting the images shine. I found it particularly interesting to see old photographs of the Moon's surface.
I did find it hard to get my head round the manipulations involved and the degree to which images may be an artefact, including being coloured. I wondered if this could be a political distortion, conscious or otherwise. Certainly the images create an impression and it shows wonderfully the art in the scientific.
January 26, 2011
TBR 158
Have you ever walked into a book store and picked up a book and just know that you have to own it?
Well - one look is all it took
every page is an astonishing photo
The book is small in page size ... about A5 but it has 390 pages containing some of the most beautiful and amazing photos
Beside which one is an explaination of what it is and how they took the photo
From infinately small to to the vastness of space
Lose yourself for a while and you will find yourself viewing everything in your life differently
Have you ever walked into a book store and picked up a book and just know that you have to own it?
Well - one look is all it took
every page is an astonishing photo
The book is small in page size ... about A5 but it has 390 pages containing some of the most beautiful and amazing photos
Beside which one is an explaination of what it is and how they took the photo
From infinately small to to the vastness of space
Lose yourself for a while and you will find yourself viewing everything in your life differently
May 27, 2011
I read a hardcover version of this, but this is all there was. regardless, the material and contents are the same.
I was interested but quickly bored of what was in the book. it really is just stuff I have seen before. I was interested ion the stuff about the human body and what we actually look like through a million-times-magnified scope.
The views of what out planet looked like was cool too, but that it.
I was interested but quickly bored of what was in the book. it really is just stuff I have seen before. I was interested ion the stuff about the human body and what we actually look like through a million-times-magnified scope.
The views of what out planet looked like was cool too, but that it.
October 18, 2008
The images contained within Heaven and Earth are often both beautiful and interesting, showing things in a different light (sometimes literally, as with the photographs taken using only ultraviolet or infrared light) than they are usually seen (if they are normally visible at all). I find it quite likely that I will reread this many times.
April 1, 2008
Very fascinating! Focuses on mundane objects we whiz by during our everyday lives then expands to universal vantages.
December 20, 2008
This book is ALL photography and will make you realize the miracles of creation, both small and infinite, man, plant, animal and universe.
October 5, 2011
Incredibly inspirational, amazing photography. I refer to this book for design inspiration.
September 16, 2014
Beautiful beautiful beautiful!
September 20, 2009
Wow, the photos in this book leave me in awe of the complex beauty of the universe.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews