I have a feeling I am not the only one interested in Curiosity's imminent touchdown on Mars later tonight! I was worried that people might not even notice because of the enormous spotlight on the olympics but in reality the world seems to be waiting with bathed breath. There is still hope for our species! ;)
So what's the deal? What's so interesting about a rusty ball of rock floating through space? Fool! Would you say earth is just a watery rock floating through space? Have some respect would you! ;) Mars is another world, an entire planet waiting for exploration. Large parts of its history have yet to be uncovered and its future will intertwine with that of mankind. Mars is the scene for one of the greatest genuine adventure stories in mankind's future history. Another great leap waiting to happen.
Martian Geology
Mars is a terrestrial planet that consists of minerals containing silicon and oxygen, metals, and other elements that typically make up rock. Like Earth, this planet has undergone differentiation, resulting in a dense, metallic core region overlaid by less dense materials. Current models of the planet's interior imply a core region about 1790 km in radius, consisting primarily of iron, nickel and sulfur. Two of its most striking geological features are the Valles Marineris, a 4,000 km long, 200 km wide and 7 km deep system of canyons that runs along the Martian surface east of the Tharsis region and the Olympus Mons, a towering shield volcano that reaches a mind boggling 27 km into the sky, more than 3 times the height of Mt Everest. It is the highest known mountain on any planet within our Solar System.
Although Mars has no evidence of a current structured global magnetic field, observations show that parts of the planet's crust have been magnetized, and that alternating polarity reversals of its dipole field have occurred in the past. This paleomagnetism of magnetically susceptible minerals has properties that are very similar to the alternating bands found on the ocean floors of Earth. One theory, published in 1999 and re-examined in October 2005 (with the help of the Mars Global Surveyor), is that these bands demonstrate plate tectonics on Mars four billion years ago, before the planetary dynamo ceased to function and the planet's magnetic field faded away.
Martian History
During the Solar System's formation, Mars was created as the result of a stochastic process of run-away accretion out of the protoplanetary disk that orbited the Sun. Mars has many distinctive chemical features caused by its position in the Solar System. Elements with comparatively low boiling points such as chlorine, phosphorus and sulphur are much more common on Mars than Earth; these elements were probably removed from areas closer to the Sun by the young star's energetic solar wind.
After the formation of the planets, all were subjected to the so-called "Late Heavy Bombardment". About 60% of the surface of Mars shows a record of impacts from that era, while much of the remaining surface is probably underlain by immense impact basins caused by those events. There is evidence of an enormous impact basin in the northern hemisphere of Mars, spanning 10,600 km by 8,500 km, the largest impact basin yet discovered. This suggests that Mars was struck by a Pluto-sized body about four billion years ago. The event created the smooth Borealis basin that covers 40% of the planet.
Martian Water
geological evidence gathered by unmanned missions suggest that Mars once had large-scale water coverage on its surface. In 2005, radar data revealed the presence of large quantities of water ice at the poles, and at mid-latitudes. The Mars rover Spirit sampled chemical compounds containing water molecules in March 2007 and the Phoenix lander directly sampled water ice in shallow Martian soil on July 31, 2008. Liquid water cannot exist on the surface of Mars due to low atmospheric pressure, except at the lowest elevations for short periods. The two polar ice caps appear to be made largely of water. The volume of water ice in the south polar ice cap, if melted, would be sufficient to cover the entire planetary surface to a depth of 11 meters.
Martian Atmosphere
The atmosphere of Mars consists of about 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen, 1.6% argon and contains traces of oxygen and water. The atmosphere is quite dusty, containing particulates about 1.5 µm in diameter which give the Martian sky a tawny color when seen from the surface. Methane has been detected in the Martian atmosphere with a mole fraction of about 30 ppb. It occurs in extended plumes, and the profiles imply that the methane was released from discrete regions. In northern midsummer, the principal plume contained 19,000 metric tons of methane, with an estimated source strength of 0.6 kilogram per second. The implied methane destruction lifetime may be as long as about 4 Earth years and as short as about 0.6 Earth years. This rapid turnover would indicate an active source of the gas on the planet. Volcanic activity, cometary impacts, and the presence of methanogenic microbial life forms are among possible sources.
Of all the planets in the Solar System, the seasons of Mars are the most Earth-like, due to the similar tilts of the two planets' rotational axes. The lengths of the Martian seasons are about twice those of Earth's, as Mars's greater distance from the Sun leads to the Martian year being about two Earth years long. Mars also has the largest dust storms in our Solar System. These can vary from a storm over a small area, to gigantic storms that cover the entire planet. They tend to occur when Mars is closest to the Sun, and have been shown to increase the global temperature.
Martian Moons
Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are small and irregularly shaped. From the surface of Mars, the motions of Phobos and Deimos appear very different from that of our own moon. Phobos rises in the west, sets in the east, and rises again in just 11 hours. Deimos, being only just outside synchronous orbit—where the orbital period would match the planet's period of rotation—rises as expected in the east but very slowly. Despite the 30 hour orbit of Deimos, it takes 2.7 days to set in the west as it slowly falls behind the rotation of Mars, then just as long again to rise.
Because the orbit of Phobos is below synchronous altitude, the tidal forces from the planet Mars are gradually lowering its orbit. In about 50 million years it could either crash into Mars's surface or break up into a ring structure around the planet
Missions to Mars
Mars is currently host to three functional orbiting spacecraft: Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and one on the surface, the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. Defunct spacecraft on the surface include MER-A Spirit, and several other inert landers and rovers, both successful and unsuccessful such as the Phoenix lander, which completed its mission in 2008. Observations by NASA's now-defunct Mars Global Surveyor show evidence that parts of the southern polar ice cap have been receding. Observations by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed possible flowing water during the warmest months on Mars.
Curiosity
Now that we've established that Mars is both pretty and interesting, what exactly will curiosity be up to when he arrives? First and foremost it will try to get an answer to one of the BIG questions; find out whether Mars could ever have supported life. Its official name is MSL, Mars Science Laboratory for a reason. It carries lots of interesting tools that allow it to run its own experiments. It will study both climate and geology as well collect data that will allow us to plan for future human missions to Mars.
Curiosity takes off - http://goo.gl/09wD2 .
Curiosity's bag of tricks - http://goo.gl/8LkoV
7 minutes of terror before touchdown
BBC Horizon: Mission to Mars
Live Coverage
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/
http://www.ustream.tv/NASAJPL
Future
The Red Planet's is our closest neighbor. Both its proximity and status as a prime target for future human colonization ensure our continued interest and help drive more robotic missions to the Red Planet. There will come a time when we, bags of meat, will want to explore it ourselves and that time may almost be at hand. Initiatives like Mars One - http://mars-one.com/en/ - have a real chance of success. They managed to get a lot of respected individuals and companies on board and their timeline looks realistic. Perhaps they will be the ones who translate the dream into reality?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Science_Laboratory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_to_Mars
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manned_mission_to_Mars
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_Mars
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Mars
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
June 5, 2016
February 15, 2016
What is Science Fiction?
Although most people have a rough idea of what Science Fiction is all about, there's not really a singular agreed on definition. Personally I'm a big fan of the one cooked up by Rod Serling's, The creator and host of the Twilight Zone. He once stated that; "Fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science Fiction is the improbable made possible." That being said, almost all big names in SF have their own idea of just what Science Fiction really is. You can check out Wikipedia's extensive list of SF definitions to get an idea of the variety of ideas out there.
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it." -Alan Kay
Did you know that the literally thousand year old Indian epic "Ramayana" (5th to 4th century before chirst) featured SF elements? Those ancient texts refer to flying contraptions that could traverse not just the skies but also space and the oceanic depths. These supremely speedy craft carried weapons of mass destruction so powerful that they could level entire cities! In the second century the Syrian-Greek writer Lucian wrote about a trip to space where he met alien life. In his conversation with them he criticized certain earthly behavior and in doing so Lucian became one of the first to employ SF as a tool for societal criticism He turned the lens back around, using it to look at ourselves through the eyes of an outsider. The first story that incorporated time travel as a device to study our ever more rapidly changing world emerged from Japan in the 8th century. In said story, a man who gets sent 300 years into the future desperately tries to find the way back to his old hometown in a for him almost unrecognizable world. It's clear that the history of SF goes back quite some time. From the mythic stories produced in ages nearly lost to history to the more recent European proto-SF movement and the 40s & 50s US golden age to ultimately the modern cyberpunk and biofunk of today. SF keeps renewing itself, a necessity brought about by its core task; to stay ahead of the future.
"Everything is becoming science fiction. From the margins of an almost invisible literature has sprung the intact reality of the 20th century." -J. G. Ballard
Science Fiction has a whole lot more to offer than just entertainment. SF can help us think through some of the possibly dangerous implications present in changing technology, culture or human nature. It allows us to simulate possible future scenarios which in a sense make it possible for us to anticipate and thus plan for and even guide our fates towards certain outcomes above others. There is a lively feedbackloop active between technological innovation and SF literature. Both push each other onward to ever greater feats of imagination and engineering prowess. A good example of this is the communication satellite which was first dreamt up by Arthur C. Clarke and took more then a decade to be translated from page to reality. Today more than 3000 of them circle or planet every day. People like Clarke allow us to pull a certain future into the present.
"A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam." -Frederik Pohl
"Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories." -Arthur C. Clarke
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
Outline of Science Fiction - Wikipedia
Science Fiction Essentials
Science Fiction Classics
Forgotten Gems & Future Classics
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it." -Alan Kay
Did you know that the literally thousand year old Indian epic "Ramayana" (5th to 4th century before chirst) featured SF elements? Those ancient texts refer to flying contraptions that could traverse not just the skies but also space and the oceanic depths. These supremely speedy craft carried weapons of mass destruction so powerful that they could level entire cities! In the second century the Syrian-Greek writer Lucian wrote about a trip to space where he met alien life. In his conversation with them he criticized certain earthly behavior and in doing so Lucian became one of the first to employ SF as a tool for societal criticism He turned the lens back around, using it to look at ourselves through the eyes of an outsider. The first story that incorporated time travel as a device to study our ever more rapidly changing world emerged from Japan in the 8th century. In said story, a man who gets sent 300 years into the future desperately tries to find the way back to his old hometown in a for him almost unrecognizable world. It's clear that the history of SF goes back quite some time. From the mythic stories produced in ages nearly lost to history to the more recent European proto-SF movement and the 40s & 50s US golden age to ultimately the modern cyberpunk and biofunk of today. SF keeps renewing itself, a necessity brought about by its core task; to stay ahead of the future.
"Everything is becoming science fiction. From the margins of an almost invisible literature has sprung the intact reality of the 20th century." -J. G. Ballard
Science Fiction has a whole lot more to offer than just entertainment. SF can help us think through some of the possibly dangerous implications present in changing technology, culture or human nature. It allows us to simulate possible future scenarios which in a sense make it possible for us to anticipate and thus plan for and even guide our fates towards certain outcomes above others. There is a lively feedbackloop active between technological innovation and SF literature. Both push each other onward to ever greater feats of imagination and engineering prowess. A good example of this is the communication satellite which was first dreamt up by Arthur C. Clarke and took more then a decade to be translated from page to reality. Today more than 3000 of them circle or planet every day. People like Clarke allow us to pull a certain future into the present.
"A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam." -Frederik Pohl
"Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories." -Arthur C. Clarke
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
Outline of Science Fiction - Wikipedia
Science Fiction Essentials
Science Fiction Classics
Forgotten Gems & Future Classics
October 5, 2015
A Geek's Guide to Paris - Part 1: Paris through the ages
People have lived in what is now Paris for at least 10,000 years but the region had to wait for its name until a Celtic tribe that called itself the Parisii built a settlement there in 250 BC. When the Romans conquered the area in 52 BC and started expanding the town they called it Lutetia Parisorum. Around 305 AD the city began to be called Civitas Parisiorum, ("The City of the Parisii") but by the end of the Roman Empire, it was known simply as Parisius in Latin and Paris in French. What started as a small settlement on the banks of the Seine is now a metropolis with more than 12 million inhabitants, one of Europe's largest population centers. With a GDP of €607 billion (US$845 billion) it's a true economic juggernaut, a force to be reckoned with. Thanks to its rich history, world renowned cuisine and fashion houses, as well as its leading role in the development of film, it has managed to retain its place as one of the cultural heavy weights of the world.
Its political history is long and complex. It has been the seat of power in France from the 4th century onwards but the power it held over surrounding lands has waxed and waned considerably throughout time. Many of the most famous kings that held their court in Paris have wielded enormous religious and economic power and managed to project military might around the world. From the rule of kings such as Clovis I of the distinguished Merovingian dynasty or the "father of Europe", Charlemagne of the Carolingian dynasty who went on to become Holy Roman Emperor... From royals like Hugh Capet of the Capetian line who in many ways founded modern France to Louis XIV, the Sun king, who helped put an end to feudalism and emperors like Napoléon Bonaparte who birthed much of the modern world... All of them have shaped history in ways seemingly beyond what a mere mortal should be capable of.
In cities as old as Paris, every square inch has been stage to the joys of life as well as the terrors that precede death. When people weren't being taken by natural disasters that were at the time outside of human control; Paris for example got ravaged by the Black Death in 1348 and by the plague in 1466, they had no problem slaughtering each other for religious differences such as was the case during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre or the many larger wars between Catholics and Protestants in general. Perhaps one of the biggest wars France ever fought was the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) in which the House of Plantagenet, rulers of the Kingdom of England, fought the House of Valois for control of the Kingdom of France. Both sides drew in allies from all over Europe and the result was pretty much hell on earth.
It would have been nice if things had quietened down after the age of enlightenment but we all know it didn't turn out that way. Paris' reputation grew on the writings of its intellectuals such as the philosophers Descartes, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau. These bold thinkers fueled not only the enlightened thinking that spawned the modern world, they also lit the fuse under the establishment, sparking the French Revolution (1789) which saw France get rid of its kings and declare itself a Republic. What started as something beautiful turned dark real quick with a period known as "the reign of terror" (1793). Standing on the beautiful Place de la Concorde it's hard to believe that it was once the site of France's most active guillotine. You can now only guess where exactly the heads of people like Lavoisier or Marie Antoinette were severed from their bodies but the thought alone is enough to send chills up your spine.
France stopped being a republic when this little guy called Napoleon decided he wanted to be Emperor and not just of France but of most of modern Europe. He turned out to be a tactical genius with considerably organisational skills which allowed him to realize his rather crazy dream. He steamrolled pretty much all forces that opposed him and is widely regarded as one of the greatest commanders in history. To this day his campaigns are studied at military academies worldwide. His Napoleonic Code influenced civil law worldwide and he pushed for the adoption of international measurement standards by demanding that the metric system be taught at all levels of education. After Napoleon's loss at the hands of the Russians and their scorched earth tactics and ultimately his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, Paris was briefly occupied by the allied forces who had brought him to his knees. Although the restoration period saw the return of the monarchs with Louis XVIII and Charles X, it didn't take long for another revolution to uproot them. Considering that France is currently on its fifth republic, this cycle played out quite a few times.
The Second Empire (Napoleon III) ended in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71) but not long after peace had returned, Paris became home to a small scale but extremely brutal civil war in which anarchists and radical socialists murdered their way to power but ultimately lost to the french army in "the bloody week". The start of the 20th century brought with it the first world war and the rest, as they say, is history.
Now that we've dealt with the past, we'll get the obvious attractions out of the way. if you visit Paris you have to get up close and personal with; the Eiffel tower, Sacré-Cœur, Arc de Triomphe, Les Invalides, Panthéon, La Grande Arche de La Defense, Centre Pompidou, Gare du Nord, Conciergerie, the Louvre, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Musée des Arts et Métiers, La Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, Musée d'Orsay, Hôtel de Ville, Sorbonne, Palais Garnier, Palais de Chaillot, Le Grand & Petit Palais, Pont Alexandre, Pont Neuf, Pont Mirabeau, Notre-Dame, Sainte Chapelle, Saint-Sulpice, L'église de la Madeleine, Sainte-Clotilde, Sainte-Trinité, Saint-Augustin, Les Arènes de Lutèce,Tour Montparnasse, Hôtel de Sens, Place de la Concorde, Place Vendôme, Place de la Bastille, Jardin des Tuileries, Jardin du Luxembourg & Les Catacombes de Paris. If you find the time you should probably also visit Versailles, Château Vincennes, Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace & La basilique de Saint-Denis just outside of the Paris Center. Pictures and links to more information about all these places can be found in the album below.
All of the above you will find in pretty much every guide to Paris but for #ScienceSunday , my final 5 day quest post and my weekly art share I'd like to present you a picture of Paris focused on science and art. However, I am saving that for Part 2 which I hope to finish today so check back later! :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_France
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Paris
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_I
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Capet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Years_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Wars_of_Religion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Bartholomew%27s_Day_massacre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIV
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_Bonaparte
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune
Its political history is long and complex. It has been the seat of power in France from the 4th century onwards but the power it held over surrounding lands has waxed and waned considerably throughout time. Many of the most famous kings that held their court in Paris have wielded enormous religious and economic power and managed to project military might around the world. From the rule of kings such as Clovis I of the distinguished Merovingian dynasty or the "father of Europe", Charlemagne of the Carolingian dynasty who went on to become Holy Roman Emperor... From royals like Hugh Capet of the Capetian line who in many ways founded modern France to Louis XIV, the Sun king, who helped put an end to feudalism and emperors like Napoléon Bonaparte who birthed much of the modern world... All of them have shaped history in ways seemingly beyond what a mere mortal should be capable of.
In cities as old as Paris, every square inch has been stage to the joys of life as well as the terrors that precede death. When people weren't being taken by natural disasters that were at the time outside of human control; Paris for example got ravaged by the Black Death in 1348 and by the plague in 1466, they had no problem slaughtering each other for religious differences such as was the case during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre or the many larger wars between Catholics and Protestants in general. Perhaps one of the biggest wars France ever fought was the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) in which the House of Plantagenet, rulers of the Kingdom of England, fought the House of Valois for control of the Kingdom of France. Both sides drew in allies from all over Europe and the result was pretty much hell on earth.
It would have been nice if things had quietened down after the age of enlightenment but we all know it didn't turn out that way. Paris' reputation grew on the writings of its intellectuals such as the philosophers Descartes, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau. These bold thinkers fueled not only the enlightened thinking that spawned the modern world, they also lit the fuse under the establishment, sparking the French Revolution (1789) which saw France get rid of its kings and declare itself a Republic. What started as something beautiful turned dark real quick with a period known as "the reign of terror" (1793). Standing on the beautiful Place de la Concorde it's hard to believe that it was once the site of France's most active guillotine. You can now only guess where exactly the heads of people like Lavoisier or Marie Antoinette were severed from their bodies but the thought alone is enough to send chills up your spine.
France stopped being a republic when this little guy called Napoleon decided he wanted to be Emperor and not just of France but of most of modern Europe. He turned out to be a tactical genius with considerably organisational skills which allowed him to realize his rather crazy dream. He steamrolled pretty much all forces that opposed him and is widely regarded as one of the greatest commanders in history. To this day his campaigns are studied at military academies worldwide. His Napoleonic Code influenced civil law worldwide and he pushed for the adoption of international measurement standards by demanding that the metric system be taught at all levels of education. After Napoleon's loss at the hands of the Russians and their scorched earth tactics and ultimately his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, Paris was briefly occupied by the allied forces who had brought him to his knees. Although the restoration period saw the return of the monarchs with Louis XVIII and Charles X, it didn't take long for another revolution to uproot them. Considering that France is currently on its fifth republic, this cycle played out quite a few times.
The Second Empire (Napoleon III) ended in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71) but not long after peace had returned, Paris became home to a small scale but extremely brutal civil war in which anarchists and radical socialists murdered their way to power but ultimately lost to the french army in "the bloody week". The start of the 20th century brought with it the first world war and the rest, as they say, is history.
Now that we've dealt with the past, we'll get the obvious attractions out of the way. if you visit Paris you have to get up close and personal with; the Eiffel tower, Sacré-Cœur, Arc de Triomphe, Les Invalides, Panthéon, La Grande Arche de La Defense, Centre Pompidou, Gare du Nord, Conciergerie, the Louvre, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Musée des Arts et Métiers, La Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, Musée d'Orsay, Hôtel de Ville, Sorbonne, Palais Garnier, Palais de Chaillot, Le Grand & Petit Palais, Pont Alexandre, Pont Neuf, Pont Mirabeau, Notre-Dame, Sainte Chapelle, Saint-Sulpice, L'église de la Madeleine, Sainte-Clotilde, Sainte-Trinité, Saint-Augustin, Les Arènes de Lutèce,Tour Montparnasse, Hôtel de Sens, Place de la Concorde, Place Vendôme, Place de la Bastille, Jardin des Tuileries, Jardin du Luxembourg & Les Catacombes de Paris. If you find the time you should probably also visit Versailles, Château Vincennes, Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace & La basilique de Saint-Denis just outside of the Paris Center. Pictures and links to more information about all these places can be found in the album below.
All of the above you will find in pretty much every guide to Paris but for #ScienceSunday , my final 5 day quest post and my weekly art share I'd like to present you a picture of Paris focused on science and art. However, I am saving that for Part 2 which I hope to finish today so check back later! :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_France
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Paris
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_I
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Capet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Years_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Wars_of_Religion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Bartholomew%27s_Day_massacre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIV
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_Bonaparte
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune
April 11, 2015
Jean-Léon Gérôme - torn between romantic idealism and historic realism
Jean-Léon Gérôme, born 1824 in France, was a master of the style now known as Academicism. His many paintings depicting historical scenes, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits and other subjects guarantee his name will live on for centuries to come. That being said, he's also responsible for more than a few stunning sculptural works.
Gérôme’s artistic career began in 1840 in Paris where he practiced his craft under Paul Delaroche's watchful eye. He accompanied Delaroche to Italy to continue his studies. Two years later he returned to Paris and attended the École des Beaux-Arts, entering the Prix de Rome competition in hopes of returning to Italy, but he failed to qualify for the final stage in 1846 because of his inadequate figure drawing. Consequently, Gérôme became obsessed with painting the perfect nude—an ambition he would harbor throughout his life.
In 1853, Gérôme moved to the Boîte à Thé, a group of studios in the Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Paris. This would become a meeting place for other artists, writers and actors. George Sand entertained in the small theater of the studio the great artists of her time such as the composers Berlioz, Brahms and Rossini and the novelists Gautier and Turgenev. No doubt this was an environment conductive to the cross pollination of artistic ideas. Gérôme both inspired and was influenced by these greats.
He made his name rendering allegorical scenes from ancient Greece and Rome in exquisite detail, often incorporating neoclassical concepts. His breakthrough in France allowed him to travel the world and his many journeys proved to be a great inspiration, birthing a great deal of historical paintings. His visits to Northern Africa, Egypt in particular, made a lasting impression and he would return to it in his paintings ever after.
Although Gérôme is famous for his idealized depictions of reality, he achieved detail so vivid that his work, even though the scenes and people in them were larger than life, appeared to ring true. He perfected many of the techniques that realists would later employ and in many ways is responsible for the realist movement's birth as it took off in response to the exaggerated reality he had helped popularize. In 1902 he said; "Thanks to photography, Truth has at last left her well.". I for one am glad that Gérôme was born ahead of what might have been his time. He blurred the lines between the real and the fantastic most beautifully.
Jean-Léon Gérôme died in his atelier on 10 January 1904. He was found in front of a portrait of Rembrandt and close to his own painting "The Truth".
Gérôme’s artistic career began in 1840 in Paris where he practiced his craft under Paul Delaroche's watchful eye. He accompanied Delaroche to Italy to continue his studies. Two years later he returned to Paris and attended the École des Beaux-Arts, entering the Prix de Rome competition in hopes of returning to Italy, but he failed to qualify for the final stage in 1846 because of his inadequate figure drawing. Consequently, Gérôme became obsessed with painting the perfect nude—an ambition he would harbor throughout his life.
In 1853, Gérôme moved to the Boîte à Thé, a group of studios in the Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Paris. This would become a meeting place for other artists, writers and actors. George Sand entertained in the small theater of the studio the great artists of her time such as the composers Berlioz, Brahms and Rossini and the novelists Gautier and Turgenev. No doubt this was an environment conductive to the cross pollination of artistic ideas. Gérôme both inspired and was influenced by these greats.
He made his name rendering allegorical scenes from ancient Greece and Rome in exquisite detail, often incorporating neoclassical concepts. His breakthrough in France allowed him to travel the world and his many journeys proved to be a great inspiration, birthing a great deal of historical paintings. His visits to Northern Africa, Egypt in particular, made a lasting impression and he would return to it in his paintings ever after.
Although Gérôme is famous for his idealized depictions of reality, he achieved detail so vivid that his work, even though the scenes and people in them were larger than life, appeared to ring true. He perfected many of the techniques that realists would later employ and in many ways is responsible for the realist movement's birth as it took off in response to the exaggerated reality he had helped popularize. In 1902 he said; "Thanks to photography, Truth has at last left her well.". I for one am glad that Gérôme was born ahead of what might have been his time. He blurred the lines between the real and the fantastic most beautifully.
Jean-Léon Gérôme died in his atelier on 10 January 1904. He was found in front of a portrait of Rembrandt and close to his own painting "The Truth".
March 14, 2015
The many hands that make light work want you to see it anew
Physicists around the world are gearing up for the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies (IYL), which kicks off later this month at an official opening ceremony at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris. Some 1500 delegates are set to converge on the French capital for the event, which runs from 19 to 20 January, and will include representatives from the UN and UNESCO as well as the Nobel laureates Zhores Alferov, Steven Chu, Serge Haroche and William Phillips.
Honestly, they couldn't have picked a better year. 2015 marks the anniversary of several important milestones in the study of light, including the 1000th anniversary of the publication of Ibn al-Haytham's seven-volume treatise on optics. Alhazen's work transformed the way in which light and vision was understood, earning him the title the "father of modern optics". 200 years ago Fresnel proposed that light behaved like a wave, 150 years ago James Clerk Maxwell published his Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field, a 100 years ago Einstein embedded light in cosmology through general relativity and it's been 50 years since Wilson and Penzias discovered the cosmic microwave background.
"One of the most exciting aspects of this International Year is the way in which it brings together such a wide range of different communities, from astronomy to medicine and photonics to arts and culture," says Beth Taylor, chair of the UK National Committee for the IYL. "It creates a unique opportunity to cross traditional cultural divides and engage new and different audiences with the excitement of light and its applications."
The IYL will consist of a series of co-ordinated events around the world to communicate the importance of light and optical technologies in society – ranging from the Story of Light Festival in Goa, India, to Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day. Hundreds of events are planned in countries all around the world.
You can find out about events near you using light2015's event programme; http://www.light2015.org/Home.html
If you haven not yet seen the amazing BBC4 series Light Fantastic, make this the year you do.
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” -Plato
Some other interesting links;
• White light through prism
• A History of Light
• The electromagnetic radiation spectrum
Honestly, they couldn't have picked a better year. 2015 marks the anniversary of several important milestones in the study of light, including the 1000th anniversary of the publication of Ibn al-Haytham's seven-volume treatise on optics. Alhazen's work transformed the way in which light and vision was understood, earning him the title the "father of modern optics". 200 years ago Fresnel proposed that light behaved like a wave, 150 years ago James Clerk Maxwell published his Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field, a 100 years ago Einstein embedded light in cosmology through general relativity and it's been 50 years since Wilson and Penzias discovered the cosmic microwave background.
"One of the most exciting aspects of this International Year is the way in which it brings together such a wide range of different communities, from astronomy to medicine and photonics to arts and culture," says Beth Taylor, chair of the UK National Committee for the IYL. "It creates a unique opportunity to cross traditional cultural divides and engage new and different audiences with the excitement of light and its applications."
The IYL will consist of a series of co-ordinated events around the world to communicate the importance of light and optical technologies in society – ranging from the Story of Light Festival in Goa, India, to Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day. Hundreds of events are planned in countries all around the world.
You can find out about events near you using light2015's event programme; http://www.light2015.org/Home.html
If you haven not yet seen the amazing BBC4 series Light Fantastic, make this the year you do.
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” -Plato
Some other interesting links;
• White light through prism
• A History of Light
• The electromagnetic radiation spectrum
Henryk Siemiradzki - A forgotten master of academicism
Siemiradzki was a Polish 19th-century painter known for his depictions of scenes from the ancient Graeco-Roman world and the New Testament. He was born in 1843 to a Polish noble family near the city of Kharkiv in the Russian Empire (now Ukraine).
He entered the Physics-Mathematics School of Kharkov University and studied natural sciences there with great interest, but also continued to paint. After graduating from the University with the degree of Kandidat he abandoned his scientific career and moved to Saint Petersburg to study painting at the Imperial Academy of Arts in the years 1864–1870. Upon his graduation he was awarded a gold medal. In 1870–1871 he studied under Karl von Piloty in Munich on a grant from the Academy. In 1872 he moved to Rome and with time, built a studio there on Via Gaeta.
At one point his paintings were loved through most of the western world. He even received the French National Order of the Legion of Honour in 1878, but today he has been largely forgotten. Most likely because all his work is on display in the national museums of Poland, Russia and Ukraine which draw relatively small crowds when compared to museums like the Louvre or the Metropolitan.
Siemiradzki died in 1902 and was buried originally in Warsaw, but later his remains were moved to the national Pantheon on Skałka in Kraków.
He entered the Physics-Mathematics School of Kharkov University and studied natural sciences there with great interest, but also continued to paint. After graduating from the University with the degree of Kandidat he abandoned his scientific career and moved to Saint Petersburg to study painting at the Imperial Academy of Arts in the years 1864–1870. Upon his graduation he was awarded a gold medal. In 1870–1871 he studied under Karl von Piloty in Munich on a grant from the Academy. In 1872 he moved to Rome and with time, built a studio there on Via Gaeta.
At one point his paintings were loved through most of the western world. He even received the French National Order of the Legion of Honour in 1878, but today he has been largely forgotten. Most likely because all his work is on display in the national museums of Poland, Russia and Ukraine which draw relatively small crowds when compared to museums like the Louvre or the Metropolitan.
Siemiradzki died in 1902 and was buried originally in Warsaw, but later his remains were moved to the national Pantheon on Skałka in Kraków.
March 2, 2015
Peter Paul Rubens fleshed out the body of classical myths
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), was a Flemish Baroque painter. A proponent of an extravagant Baroque style that emphasized movement, colour, and sensuality. Rubens is well known for his Counter-Reformation altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects. In addition to running a large studio in Antwerp that produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe, Rubens was a classically educated humanist scholar and diplomat who was knighted by both Philip IV, King of Spain, and Charles I, King of England.
His father, a Calvinist, and mother fled Antwerp for Cologne in 1568, after increased religious turmoil and persecution of Protestants during the rule of the Spanish Netherlands by the Duke of Alba. Jan Rubens became the legal advisor (and lover) of Anna of Saxony, the second wife of William I of Orange, and settled at her court in Siegen in 1570, fathering her daughter Christine. Following Jan Rubens' imprisonment for the affair, Peter Paul Rubens was born in 1577. The family returned to Cologne the next year. In 1589, two years after his father's death, Rubens moved with his mother Maria Pypelincks to Antwerp, where he was raised as a Catholic.
In Antwerp, Rubens received a humanist education, studying Latin and classical literature. By fourteen he began his artistic apprenticeship with Tobias Verhaeght. Subsequently, he studied under two of the city's leading painters of the time, the late Mannerist artists Adam van Noort and Otto van Veen. Much of his earliest training involved copying earlier artists' works, such as woodcuts by Hans Holbein the Younger and Marcantonio Raimondi's engravings after Raphael. Rubens completed his education in 1598, at which time he entered the Guild of St. Luke as an independent master.
In 1600, Rubens travelled to Italy. He stopped first in Venice, where he saw paintings by Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto, before settling in Mantua at the court of Duke Vincenzo I Gonzaga. The coloring and compositions of Veronese and Tintoretto had an immediate effect on Rubens's painting, and his later, mature style was profoundly influenced by Titian. With financial support from the Duke, Rubens travelled to Rome by way of Florence in 1601. There, he studied classical Greek and Roman art and copied works of the Italian masters. The Hellenistic sculpture Laocoön and his Sons was especially influential on him, as was the art of Michelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci. He was also influenced by the recent, highly naturalistic paintings by Caravaggio.
Rubens travelled to Spain on a diplomatic mission in 1603, delivering gifts from the Gonzagas to the court of Philip III. While there, he studied the extensive collections of Raphael and Titian that had been collected by Philip II. This journey marked the first of many during his career that combined art and diplomacy.
Upon hearing of his mother's illness in 1608, Rubens planned his departure from Italy for Antwerp. However, she died before he arrived home. His return coincided with a period of renewed prosperity in the city with the signing of the Treaty of Antwerp in April 1609, which initiated the Twelve Years' Truce. In September 1609 Rubens was appointed as court painter by Albert VII, Archduke of Austria and Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain, sovereigns of the Low Countries.
He received special permission to base his studio in Antwerp instead of at their court in Brussels, and to also work for other clients. He remained close to the Archduchess Isabella until her death in 1633, and was called upon not only as a painter but also as an ambassador and diplomat. Rubens further cemented his ties to the city when, on 3 October 1609, he married Isabella Brant, the daughter of a leading Antwerp citizen and humanist, Jan Brant.
In 1610, Rubens moved into a new house and studio that he designed. Now the Rubenshuis Museum, the Italian-influenced villa in the centre of Antwerp accommodated his workshop, where he and his apprentices made most of the paintings, and his personal art collection and library, both among the most extensive in Antwerp. During this time he built up a studio with numerous students and assistants. His most famous pupil was the young Anthony van Dyck.
Rubens used the production of prints and book title-pages, especially for his friend Balthasar Moretus, the owner of the large Plantin-Moretus publishing house, to extend his fame throughout Europe during this part of his career.
In 1621, the Queen Mother of France, Marie de' Medici, commissioned Rubens to paint two large allegorical cycles celebrating her life and the life of her late husband, Henry IV, for the Luxembourg Palace in Paris. although he began work on the second series it was never completed. Marie was exiled from France in 1630 by her son, Louis XIII, and died in 1642 in the same house in Cologne where Rubens had lived as a child.
After the end of the Twelve Years' Truce in 1621, the Spanish Habsburg rulers entrusted Rubens with a number of diplomatic missions. While in Paris in 1622 to discuss the Marie de' Medici cycle, Rubens engaged in clandestine information gathering activities, which at the time was an important task of diplomats. Between 1627 and 1630, Rubens' diplomatic career was particularly active, and he moved between the courts of Spain and England in an attempt to bring peace between the Spanish Netherlands and the United Provinces. He also made several trips to the northern Netherlands as both an artist and a diplomat.
At the courts he sometimes encountered the attitude that courtiers should not use their hands in any art or trade, but he was also received as a gentleman by many. Rubens was raised by Philip IV of Spain to the nobility in 1624 and knighted by Charles I of England in 1630. Philips IV confirmed Rubens' status as a knight a few months later. Rubens was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from Cambridge University in 1629.
Rubens's last decade was spent in and around Antwerp. Major works for foreign patrons still occupied him but he also explored more personal artistic directions. In 1630, four years after the death of his first wife Isabella, the 53-year-old painter married his first wife's niece, the 16-year-old Hélène Fourment. Hélène inspired the voluptuous figures in many of his paintings from the 1630s.
Rubens died from heart failure, which was a result of his chronic gout on 30 May 1640. He was interred in Saint Jacob's church, Antwerp. The artist had eight children, three with Isabella and five with Hélène; his youngest child was born eight months after his death.
His father, a Calvinist, and mother fled Antwerp for Cologne in 1568, after increased religious turmoil and persecution of Protestants during the rule of the Spanish Netherlands by the Duke of Alba. Jan Rubens became the legal advisor (and lover) of Anna of Saxony, the second wife of William I of Orange, and settled at her court in Siegen in 1570, fathering her daughter Christine. Following Jan Rubens' imprisonment for the affair, Peter Paul Rubens was born in 1577. The family returned to Cologne the next year. In 1589, two years after his father's death, Rubens moved with his mother Maria Pypelincks to Antwerp, where he was raised as a Catholic.
In Antwerp, Rubens received a humanist education, studying Latin and classical literature. By fourteen he began his artistic apprenticeship with Tobias Verhaeght. Subsequently, he studied under two of the city's leading painters of the time, the late Mannerist artists Adam van Noort and Otto van Veen. Much of his earliest training involved copying earlier artists' works, such as woodcuts by Hans Holbein the Younger and Marcantonio Raimondi's engravings after Raphael. Rubens completed his education in 1598, at which time he entered the Guild of St. Luke as an independent master.
In 1600, Rubens travelled to Italy. He stopped first in Venice, where he saw paintings by Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto, before settling in Mantua at the court of Duke Vincenzo I Gonzaga. The coloring and compositions of Veronese and Tintoretto had an immediate effect on Rubens's painting, and his later, mature style was profoundly influenced by Titian. With financial support from the Duke, Rubens travelled to Rome by way of Florence in 1601. There, he studied classical Greek and Roman art and copied works of the Italian masters. The Hellenistic sculpture Laocoön and his Sons was especially influential on him, as was the art of Michelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci. He was also influenced by the recent, highly naturalistic paintings by Caravaggio.
Rubens travelled to Spain on a diplomatic mission in 1603, delivering gifts from the Gonzagas to the court of Philip III. While there, he studied the extensive collections of Raphael and Titian that had been collected by Philip II. This journey marked the first of many during his career that combined art and diplomacy.
Upon hearing of his mother's illness in 1608, Rubens planned his departure from Italy for Antwerp. However, she died before he arrived home. His return coincided with a period of renewed prosperity in the city with the signing of the Treaty of Antwerp in April 1609, which initiated the Twelve Years' Truce. In September 1609 Rubens was appointed as court painter by Albert VII, Archduke of Austria and Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain, sovereigns of the Low Countries.
He received special permission to base his studio in Antwerp instead of at their court in Brussels, and to also work for other clients. He remained close to the Archduchess Isabella until her death in 1633, and was called upon not only as a painter but also as an ambassador and diplomat. Rubens further cemented his ties to the city when, on 3 October 1609, he married Isabella Brant, the daughter of a leading Antwerp citizen and humanist, Jan Brant.
In 1610, Rubens moved into a new house and studio that he designed. Now the Rubenshuis Museum, the Italian-influenced villa in the centre of Antwerp accommodated his workshop, where he and his apprentices made most of the paintings, and his personal art collection and library, both among the most extensive in Antwerp. During this time he built up a studio with numerous students and assistants. His most famous pupil was the young Anthony van Dyck.
Rubens used the production of prints and book title-pages, especially for his friend Balthasar Moretus, the owner of the large Plantin-Moretus publishing house, to extend his fame throughout Europe during this part of his career.
In 1621, the Queen Mother of France, Marie de' Medici, commissioned Rubens to paint two large allegorical cycles celebrating her life and the life of her late husband, Henry IV, for the Luxembourg Palace in Paris. although he began work on the second series it was never completed. Marie was exiled from France in 1630 by her son, Louis XIII, and died in 1642 in the same house in Cologne where Rubens had lived as a child.
After the end of the Twelve Years' Truce in 1621, the Spanish Habsburg rulers entrusted Rubens with a number of diplomatic missions. While in Paris in 1622 to discuss the Marie de' Medici cycle, Rubens engaged in clandestine information gathering activities, which at the time was an important task of diplomats. Between 1627 and 1630, Rubens' diplomatic career was particularly active, and he moved between the courts of Spain and England in an attempt to bring peace between the Spanish Netherlands and the United Provinces. He also made several trips to the northern Netherlands as both an artist and a diplomat.
At the courts he sometimes encountered the attitude that courtiers should not use their hands in any art or trade, but he was also received as a gentleman by many. Rubens was raised by Philip IV of Spain to the nobility in 1624 and knighted by Charles I of England in 1630. Philips IV confirmed Rubens' status as a knight a few months later. Rubens was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from Cambridge University in 1629.
Rubens's last decade was spent in and around Antwerp. Major works for foreign patrons still occupied him but he also explored more personal artistic directions. In 1630, four years after the death of his first wife Isabella, the 53-year-old painter married his first wife's niece, the 16-year-old Hélène Fourment. Hélène inspired the voluptuous figures in many of his paintings from the 1630s.
Rubens died from heart failure, which was a result of his chronic gout on 30 May 1640. He was interred in Saint Jacob's church, Antwerp. The artist had eight children, three with Isabella and five with Hélène; his youngest child was born eight months after his death.
March 29, 2014
The History of History
How art breathing life into long dead bones helps to drag history back into the present.
Sergey Krasovskiy's beautiful drawing of the recently discovered European "tyrannosaurus", torvosaurus gurneyi, leaps off the page in such a way that it almost appears to bring it back to life.
Torvosauruses are actually some 80 million years older than T. Rex and, being part of the Megalosauridae family, are only distantly related to the tyrannosauridae through some of the very first theropods. However, like T. Rex and many other theropods, torvosaurus too was a fearsome looking carnivorous predator. When it was active in the late Jurassic, a particularly brave one might have tried to make a meal out of stegosaurus. By the time T. Rex was stalking Triceratops in the upper cretaceous period, torvosaurus' bones had already been turned to stone.
We've come a long way since ancient times in which people thought that the massive bones they uncovered had once belonged to giants and dragons. Even in the 17th century most people with an interest in what we would now call paleontology were still trying to assemble mythical creatures like unicorns out of a variety of completely different animal skeletons from all over the world. They tended to mix and match parts as they saw fit, more concerned with showmanship than historic truth. It wasn't until the end of the 18th century and the development of comparative anatomy that paleontology started getting serious.
We owe this mostly to Georges Cuvier (1769 -1832) who not only pointed out that comparing between anatomies can tell us particulars about any given skeleton but who also took it upon himself to reapply flesh and fur to said skeletons in his drawings. Although his images too shocked and dazzled the crowd, he really cared about their veracity and always tried to depict them as true to life as possible. What he started gave rise to an explosion of interest in the study of ancient life and when only 10 years after his death Richard Owen coined the term "dinosaurs", and the bones of giants were finally recognized for what they truly were, there was no going back. A revolution in our understanding of both the history of life and earth itself swept across our 4,5 billion planet like a tidal wave and knocked the people who had previously thought the earth to be only a few millions years old off their feet.
The 19th and 20th century were a golden age for both geology and paleontology. Thanks to the construction of museums and the increasingly wide circulation of various works of art that depicted dinosaurs and prehistoric life, the reality of our ancient earth started to enter the minds of everyday people. The easy access to such information sparked even greater interest in the fields and helped ensure a constant influx of new talent. As a result these two centuries saw an extremely rapid accumulation of knowledge.
The power of art is not to be underestimated. Indeed, although it helped to birth the field of paleontology, it has also held it back. For the longest time dinosaurs were thought of as slow elephantine reptiles. In no small part thanks to how they were depicted by Richard Owen in the 1850s. He, with what must have been a stunning exhibition in the then to South London relocated Crystal Palace, made an enormous impact on people's perception of dinosaurs. It didn't take long for the progress in paleontology to make these early first models laughably outdated but by then the damage had been done. It would take the public almost an entire century, until the 1960s, to catch up with the paleontology of the late 1800s. People had trouble letting go of the pictures that had entrenched themselves so deeply in popular culture... A situation that is eerily similar to today's with people not wanting the hero/monster of their childhood, the T. Rex "to be turned into a big chicken".
The Posture of Tyrannosaurus rex: Why Do Student Views Lag Behind the Science?
Unfortunately, researchers active in paleontology are not immune to popular thinking. In many ways the thought climate during the turn of the century had been much more fertile for exploring what dinosaurs were really like than the decades that came after. Just before the end of the 19th century, people like Huxley, Darwin's bulldog, were convinced that birds had evolved from small carnivorous dinosaurs but this idea, going against popular thought, did not manage to get any traction. Instead the arrival of early monster movies during the first decades of the 20th century helped to cement the view of dinosaurs as cumbersome and stupid creatures even further. It's during this period that the idea of a dinosaur as something out of date, an evolutionary dead end bound for extinction, entered the public consciousness. Although at the time an undercurrent of both research and paleoart depicting dinosaurs as agile and energetic creatures did exist, it was mostly ignored and not taken seriously.
It wouldn't be until the 60s that views would begin to shift. In a period that is now known as "the dinosaur renaissance" research that couldn't be ignored began to paint a rather different picture of dinosaurs, one more inline with the one we have today. First and foremost the fact that dinosaurs lived on until today as modern day birds really pulled the rug out from under everyone's feet. Suddenly it was no longer clear whether dinosaurs had been slow cold blooded reptiles. The field got hammered with discovery after discovery, like for example the one that uncovered a communal nesting site of maiasaura, that revealed that far from being stupid, certain dinosaurs had displayed remarkable levels of social behavioral intelligence.
The 70s saw an explosion in "new dinosaur" paleoart with many artists defending controversial views and criticizing aspects of more traditional approaches. This proved to be a boon for the field and reinvigorated the debate. Of particular note is Gregory Paul who started depicting certain dinosaurs with feathers and defended the idea in various books. The excavation of the first feathered dinosaur 20 years later in the early 90s goes to show that art really can lead the way. The shift of views from dinosaurs as lizard-like to more bird-like creatures reached the general public in 1993 with the release of Jurassic Park. Even though certain aspects JP itself have now again become outdated, it's done a lot to bring current views of dinosaurs more in line with reality. Hopefully next year's Jurassic World will continue this tradition and for the first time introduce both young and old to deinos pteros sauros or terrible feathered lizards.
Like Monet and van Gogh, artists like Charles Knight, Zdeněk Burian, Rudolph Zallinger, Doug Henderson, Raúl Martín, Mark Hallett, Gregory Paul, John Gurche, Eleanor Kish, ... should be household names! Accompanying this post is a picture album that contains some of the most important historic paleoart as well as a few works from famous modern and contemporary artists. I've also included quite a few personal favorites but please feel free to point me towards yours!
Wiki - Theropoda
Wiki - Tyrannosauridae
Wiki - Megalosauridae
Wiki - Torvosaurus
Wiki - History of paleontology
Wiki - Georges Cuvier
Wiki - Duria Antiquior
Wiki - Crystal Palace Dinosaurs
Wiki - Cultural depictions of dinosaurs
Wiki - Dinosaur renaissance
Wiki - Paleoart
Sergey Krasovskiy's beautiful drawing of the recently discovered European "tyrannosaurus", torvosaurus gurneyi, leaps off the page in such a way that it almost appears to bring it back to life.
Torvosauruses are actually some 80 million years older than T. Rex and, being part of the Megalosauridae family, are only distantly related to the tyrannosauridae through some of the very first theropods. However, like T. Rex and many other theropods, torvosaurus too was a fearsome looking carnivorous predator. When it was active in the late Jurassic, a particularly brave one might have tried to make a meal out of stegosaurus. By the time T. Rex was stalking Triceratops in the upper cretaceous period, torvosaurus' bones had already been turned to stone.
We've come a long way since ancient times in which people thought that the massive bones they uncovered had once belonged to giants and dragons. Even in the 17th century most people with an interest in what we would now call paleontology were still trying to assemble mythical creatures like unicorns out of a variety of completely different animal skeletons from all over the world. They tended to mix and match parts as they saw fit, more concerned with showmanship than historic truth. It wasn't until the end of the 18th century and the development of comparative anatomy that paleontology started getting serious.
We owe this mostly to Georges Cuvier (1769 -1832) who not only pointed out that comparing between anatomies can tell us particulars about any given skeleton but who also took it upon himself to reapply flesh and fur to said skeletons in his drawings. Although his images too shocked and dazzled the crowd, he really cared about their veracity and always tried to depict them as true to life as possible. What he started gave rise to an explosion of interest in the study of ancient life and when only 10 years after his death Richard Owen coined the term "dinosaurs", and the bones of giants were finally recognized for what they truly were, there was no going back. A revolution in our understanding of both the history of life and earth itself swept across our 4,5 billion planet like a tidal wave and knocked the people who had previously thought the earth to be only a few millions years old off their feet.
The 19th and 20th century were a golden age for both geology and paleontology. Thanks to the construction of museums and the increasingly wide circulation of various works of art that depicted dinosaurs and prehistoric life, the reality of our ancient earth started to enter the minds of everyday people. The easy access to such information sparked even greater interest in the fields and helped ensure a constant influx of new talent. As a result these two centuries saw an extremely rapid accumulation of knowledge.
The power of art is not to be underestimated. Indeed, although it helped to birth the field of paleontology, it has also held it back. For the longest time dinosaurs were thought of as slow elephantine reptiles. In no small part thanks to how they were depicted by Richard Owen in the 1850s. He, with what must have been a stunning exhibition in the then to South London relocated Crystal Palace, made an enormous impact on people's perception of dinosaurs. It didn't take long for the progress in paleontology to make these early first models laughably outdated but by then the damage had been done. It would take the public almost an entire century, until the 1960s, to catch up with the paleontology of the late 1800s. People had trouble letting go of the pictures that had entrenched themselves so deeply in popular culture... A situation that is eerily similar to today's with people not wanting the hero/monster of their childhood, the T. Rex "to be turned into a big chicken".
The Posture of Tyrannosaurus rex: Why Do Student Views Lag Behind the Science?
Unfortunately, researchers active in paleontology are not immune to popular thinking. In many ways the thought climate during the turn of the century had been much more fertile for exploring what dinosaurs were really like than the decades that came after. Just before the end of the 19th century, people like Huxley, Darwin's bulldog, were convinced that birds had evolved from small carnivorous dinosaurs but this idea, going against popular thought, did not manage to get any traction. Instead the arrival of early monster movies during the first decades of the 20th century helped to cement the view of dinosaurs as cumbersome and stupid creatures even further. It's during this period that the idea of a dinosaur as something out of date, an evolutionary dead end bound for extinction, entered the public consciousness. Although at the time an undercurrent of both research and paleoart depicting dinosaurs as agile and energetic creatures did exist, it was mostly ignored and not taken seriously.
It wouldn't be until the 60s that views would begin to shift. In a period that is now known as "the dinosaur renaissance" research that couldn't be ignored began to paint a rather different picture of dinosaurs, one more inline with the one we have today. First and foremost the fact that dinosaurs lived on until today as modern day birds really pulled the rug out from under everyone's feet. Suddenly it was no longer clear whether dinosaurs had been slow cold blooded reptiles. The field got hammered with discovery after discovery, like for example the one that uncovered a communal nesting site of maiasaura, that revealed that far from being stupid, certain dinosaurs had displayed remarkable levels of social behavioral intelligence.
The 70s saw an explosion in "new dinosaur" paleoart with many artists defending controversial views and criticizing aspects of more traditional approaches. This proved to be a boon for the field and reinvigorated the debate. Of particular note is Gregory Paul who started depicting certain dinosaurs with feathers and defended the idea in various books. The excavation of the first feathered dinosaur 20 years later in the early 90s goes to show that art really can lead the way. The shift of views from dinosaurs as lizard-like to more bird-like creatures reached the general public in 1993 with the release of Jurassic Park. Even though certain aspects JP itself have now again become outdated, it's done a lot to bring current views of dinosaurs more in line with reality. Hopefully next year's Jurassic World will continue this tradition and for the first time introduce both young and old to deinos pteros sauros or terrible feathered lizards.
Like Monet and van Gogh, artists like Charles Knight, Zdeněk Burian, Rudolph Zallinger, Doug Henderson, Raúl Martín, Mark Hallett, Gregory Paul, John Gurche, Eleanor Kish, ... should be household names! Accompanying this post is a picture album that contains some of the most important historic paleoart as well as a few works from famous modern and contemporary artists. I've also included quite a few personal favorites but please feel free to point me towards yours!
Wiki - Theropoda
Wiki - Tyrannosauridae
Wiki - Megalosauridae
Wiki - Torvosaurus
Wiki - History of paleontology
Wiki - Georges Cuvier
Wiki - Duria Antiquior
Wiki - Crystal Palace Dinosaurs
Wiki - Cultural depictions of dinosaurs
Wiki - Dinosaur renaissance
Wiki - Paleoart
October 7, 2011
September 21, 2011
Voyager 1
After 33 years, the Voyager 1 is nearing the edge of our solar system. This ambassador to the stars carries with it the historic golden record on which the following hopeful message was recorded.
September 20, 2011
When ideas have sex
"At TEDGlobal 2010, author Matt Ridley shows how, throughout history, the engine of human progress has been the meeting and mating of ideas to make new ideas. It's not important how clever individuals are, he says; what really matters is how smart the collective brain is."
September 19, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)