BOOK REVIEW
The Art World
Michael Szpir
For the past four decades, robotic spacecraft have been taking snapshots of our solar system, mostly with a scientific agenda—to gather data about our celestial neighborhood. But as writer and filmmaker Michael Benson shows in Beyond: Visions of the Interplanetary Probes (Abrams, $55), these images are also works of art. For the most part, Benson lets the pictures (295 of them) speak for themselves, but he also offers some explanations and reflections in a few short chapters at the end of the book. It’s a dramatic presentation.
Image at right: Dual crescents of Neptune and Triton, taken by Voyager 2.
Images at bottom, left to right: the enormous "Valley of the Mariner" canyon system on Mars, taken by Viking Orbiter 1; Jupiter with Io and Europa, taken by Voyager 1; the Great Lakes, taken by OrbView-2.
About once a month at Sigma Xi headquarters, we liven up the lunch hour with an American Scientist Pizza Lunch talk. In these informal lectures, scientists describe new research to nonscientists. The series is light on jargon but heavy on solid science. Each Pizza Lunch offers an in-depth look at its subject, whether it's bedbugs or the smart grid. Click below to read about and download these talks -- and to subscribe!
