madame scientist's not-so-mad musings

2012-01-14

2012-01-14

2012-01-14

2012-01-14

2012-01-14

Art and Astronomy in the Victorian Era: 19th century French entymologist-turned-astronomer, E.L. Trouvelot (1827-1895), spent 15 years making >6000 original drawings of his celestial observations at the Harvard Observatory. Some were converted into chromolithographs, a printing process that was perfected in the 1880’s, in which each color was separately transferred using lithographic stones obtained from Germany.

These stunning images have now been digitally preserved by the NY Public Library: http://legacy.www.nypl.org/research/sibl/trouvelot/homep.html

Interesting side note: Trouvelot was responsible for introducing the gypsy moth to eastern North America where it is now the most destructive and invasive pest of hardwood trees.

H/T to the Huffington Post’s new Science section for featuring this work.

2012-01-13

2012-01-13

2012-01-13

2012-01-13