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Microcosmos: Discovering the World Through Microscopic Images from 40x to 100, 000x Magnification Book
* Excludes Voucher Code Discount Also available Used from £19.87
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Greg Swarbrick23 February 2009
This book is subtitled 'Discovering the world through microscopic images from 20 times to over 22 million times magnification.'
Here you can find out what the tiny bacteria on your tongue look like, or the many shapes of household dust. The magnified bugs are truly monstrous (particularly the blood-filled tick, bloated beyond belief), whilst an image of a tiny tear in a CD illustrates just why they can simply stop working. The microscope zooms in from 40x to 115x and then 1380x to show the intricacy of pollen grain, and then we see how nature and technology can interact, with the example of a nerve cell combined with a silicon chip, which has opened possibilities for new hybrid circuits.
The 203 full-colour pictures on each right hand page are taken by a scanning electron microscope. You don't need to be a scientist to appreciate the beauty of these images or marvel at what they represent, but they may well make you more interested in these micro-universes that exist all around us, though invisible to the naked eye.
The pictures are gathered into six sections, which makes for an attractive variety: micro-organisms, botanics, the human body, zoology, minerals and technology. Each of the original photos has been artificially coloured to help show the reader what is interesting and to make sense of the image.
Opposite each image there is a title and a short paragraph of text - between thirty and eighty words - that explains what you're looking at, as well as the level of magnification. If you're flicking though at leisure, then this is ideal, but if you want to know more then the limited amount of text might be frustrating.
The pictures are attractively presented, and their quality is stunning. This brick-sized book would be ideal on a coffee table or as a talking-point, but can also more importantly act as a great introduction to science. It also makes a good counterpart to one that illustrates the 'big' scale, for example Nicolas Cheetham's Universe. Enjoyable, and recommended.
- 1554072379
- 9781554072378
- 30 October 2006
- Firefly Books Ltd
- Hardcover (Book)
- 432
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