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Title:
Cosmigraphics: Picturing Space Through Time
Speaker:
Abstract:
Of all the sciences, astronomy is the one probably most associated with the graphic image. In part this is because of the unreachable and intangible qualities of the subject being studied, which seemed to demand the creation of images as a form of understanding. Centuries before the invention of the telescope, graphic representations of the cosmos could be found in illuminated manuscripts and printed books and broadsheets. After the arrival of the telescope in astronomy in early 1610, graphic representations became even more important; the use of the telescope in astronomy predated the invention of photography by more than 200 years (and the development of photographic emulsions of any use in astronomy by another 50 or 60). As a result, a steady hand and some talent in representation were of great use to the working astronomer. Following the use of photography, of course, images of space proliferated and discoveries started being made almost exclusively through use of photography. Throughout all this time, depictions of the universe in the arts kept up a steady dialogue with the results of astronomical research. More recently, the process of mapping or visualizing data streams from terrestrial observatories or space telescopes has been indistinguishable from the discoveries themselves; you could say that the cartography leads to the discovery, rather than the other way around. My talk will feature multiple examples of visual representations of the planets, their moons, and the larger universe beyond the solar system, and will allow me to present some of the research I will present in my new book Cosmigraphics: Picturing Space Through Time (Abrams, October 2014)
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