Seeing Science: An Illustrated Guide to the Wonders of the Universe

Introduction

BY IRIS GOTTLIEB

The bowerbird inspired Seeing Science. Nature’s ultimate collector, the male bower-bird is a masterful architect of color-coordinated, sculptural nests comprised of sticks as well as collected man-made or natural objects, often all in the same color palette. Like the bowerbird building his nest, I collected snippets and specimens from across the scientific universe to make this book.

I have been investigating and documenting the natural world since I was a child. Introverted around humans, I befriended all sorts of creatures: mole crabs at the beach, a six-foot-tall plant named Bill the Weed, worms and fireflies in the backyard, a dead fish named Sleepy (who was already dead when we met), many identical gerbils over the years, and my current best friend, Bunny the Dog. This book allowed me to explore so many of the concepts I have been, to my family’s loving irritation, asking forever. How many grains of sand are there on earth compared to stars in the universe? Why isn’t all body hair the same length? Why is there high tide?

The scales of science are incomprehensibly vast, from quantum particles to the outer boundaries of the universe, and most of it is hard to actually see or touch. I have learned about the scientific world through drawing. Being able to see what’s in front of me and translate it into digestible visual information allows me to grasp infinite, abstract ideas or microscopic interactions. Bringing these inaccessible systems to the human scale in a universal visual language makes the information easier to understand and beautiful to behold.

I am writing this book from a non-academically trained science perspective. Scientific truth is truly stranger than fiction, and it deserves to be explored, understood, and appreciated by us all, regardless of our formal education. I want to open up the world of complex science with art and metaphor and storytelling. It is my hope that this book makes science more accessible, less intimidating, and more magical to anyone who has a sense of wonder—and a sense of humor.

Life Science

The study of living organisms, including determining what is living, and life processes

Anatomy

Biology

Botany

Ecology

Genetics

Microbiology

Neuroscience

Zoology

What Is Alive?

The seven criteria of living beings

Homeostasis

THE ABILITY TO REGULATE AND MAINTAIN INTERNAL STATE

Metabolism

THE ABILITY TO TRANSFORM EXTERNAL ENERGY INTO INTERNAL ENERGY AND WASTE

Organization

COMPOSED OF ONE OR MORE TYPE OF CELL

Adaptation

THE ABILITY TO CHANGE OVER TIME IN RESPONSE TO THE ENVIRONMENT

Response to stimuli

THE ABILITY TO REACT TO EXTERNAL STIMULI, OFTEN INFORMED BY SENSORY ORGANS

Growth

THE PROCESS OF INCREASING IN SIZE OVER TIME

Reproduction

THE ABILITY TO PRODUCE OFFSPRING VIA SEXUAL OR ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION

Evolution Pt. I

EVOLUTION IS THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT AND