The grandeur and complexity of weather is so often missed. When I figure out how to live parallel lives, I’ll add ‘meteorology’ to my studies. Meanwhile CHAD COWAN captures super cell thunderstorms. Amazing to watch. I know the experience from my life on the prairies of Alberta and the deserts of Western Australia. Phenomenal.
Archive: Author: facet
Science, observation, mushrooms & poetry
A potent reminder of the history of science. Listen.
Saturn in Detail
This is, amazingly, a photograph of Saturn. Ring, globe, storms and all. It is the winning image for the Planets, Comets and Asteroids category of the 2016 Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.
Photographer Damian Peach describes how he took this remarkable photograph. Spectacular complexity and detail revealed thanks to the right equipment, a lot of skill and a great night.
Ancient Pottery
Incredible detail of ancient Chinese Pottery by Yvonne (Li Chieh) Lu.
Poem by Lyon Sharman (1917)
Porcelains
There are porcelains a-plenty wrought by skill,
Hard as jade, sweet-toned as a bell,
In a hundred shapes that trades-folk sell:
Wine-cups, rice-bowls, lanterns, plates,
Tea-pots, snuff-bottles, vases with mates.
There are porcelains a-plenty wrought by skill.
There are porcelains made by no man’s will-
Miracles, they, of the kiln and fire,
Outwitting dreams, outrunning desire;
Fashioned when genii blew the coals;
Decreed for the reverence of man’s souls.
There are porcelains made by no man’s will.
James Webb Space Telescope
Eye on the Universe
With the completion of the telescope element this week, the James Webb Space Telescope is one important step closer to being our next ‘eye on the universe’.
This beauty is scheduled to launch in 2018, following on from over 20 years of international collaboration.
Have a look at some of what’s happened to date.
And bring on 2018!
Shine Dome Canberra
Come inside the Dome with me!
I'm on a short trip to Australia, in search of interesting people and stuff . . . Join in!
Take a virtual tour of the Shine Dome (Becker Building) in Australia's capital, Canberra. Built in the late 1950's the architects cleverly designed a massive concrete ring beam.
Like a hoop on a wine barrel, it straps everything together. I'll toast to that!
Layers of Beauty
Words aren’t necessary. Just listen and feel….
Beauty in Micro
Sodium Sulfite. The beauty of a single crystal (210X)
Photomicrography circa 1984! (photographer James W. Evarts)
The complexity and beauty of life in micro leaves me speechless (for once). Check out the gallery at Small World . . . 41 years of sheer micro-magnificence.
East Window at Eldridge Street
The restoration of the Eldridge St. Synagogue Museum in NYC is an amazing story. A must-see.
One of the gems . . . the East Window. Look at my photo – yes it’s lead-light without the lead!
Using modern laminate technologies, more than 1,200 pieces of colored antique glass were joined together with silicone atop a plate glass base. Not a single piece of lead holds the window together . . . “What would have been lines of lead are now lines of light.” The panels were then installed in a heavy steel frame weighing more than 4,000 pounds. The central Star of David is in three-dimensional cast glass. The final effect is painterly, pulsating, compelling.
Complexity . . . Hallelujah!
What I love . . . what fuels me and keeps me alive . . . is complexity. I haven’t always known this. In fact I almost lost myself in naive attempts to embrace ‘simplicity’. Overlooking (and underfeeling) the obvious.
I am a complex being. Drawn to the beauty of intricate systems, expanding and intersecting ideas, unusual people and variety. These excite and sustain my nervous system.
They light my fire. They give me life.
facet.me is my celebration of the complex.
My recent trip to Manhattan lit my fire. Nothing captures it as well as this image, my take on the fabulous Body Worlds exhibition there.
Hallelujah!
Welcome to my world
Welcome to facet.me