Felice Frankel has produced a remarkable book about marrying pictorial art with science and engineering. The figures are a delight to the eye and stimulation to the brain. What's more, she explains how you can create your own.
Phillip A. Sharp, Institute Professor and Director of the McGovern Institute, MIT, Nobel Laureate in Medicine (1993)
Felice Frankel is a skilled photographer with the eye of an artist and the mind of a scientist. Envisioning Science is a splendid book, full of breathtaking images and instructions for how we mere mortals might produce similar ones.
David Goodstein, Professor of Physics and Applied Physics and Frank J. Gilloon Distinguished Teaching and Service Professor, California Institute of Technology
Books on scientific photography with such beauty, breadth, and insight are rare. Felice Frankel's Envisioning Science is chock full of mind-boggling images and valuable information—not only for curious artists, students, and lay people, but also for seasoned researchers and photographers. The eclectic Frankel is both a scientist and photographer, and with the cold logic of the one and the inspired vision of the other, she covers an array of topics sure to stimulate your imagination and sense of wonder at the incredible vastness of the physical world.
Clifford A. Pickover, author of A Passion for Mathematics and Sex, Drugs, Einstein, and Elves
In the beginning were the image and the eye. Then man-the-scientist became enamored of the word and neglectful of the image. Now the small group of those who fight back welcomes Felice Frankel as a marvelous addition, both as skillful performer and as experienced and patient teacher. Her book is priceless.
Benoit B. Mandelbrot, Sterling Professor of Mathematical Sciences, Yale University
Most people think of science as abstract and numerical. In fact, science is a surprisingly visual endeavor: both data and theory are often driven by pictures and images. Felice Frankel's work conveys the tremendous beauty and excitement of science—letting the layperson share in the wonder of studying the natural world.
Eric S. Lander, Director, Whitehead Institute/MIT Center for Genome Research; Member, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research; and Professor of Biology, MIT
Part of my fun job is to seek out the very best pictures possible, the amazingly cool ones conveying information and promoting new understandings. These images get integrated into designs for new exhibitions that millions of people see every year. 'Honest' pictures are hard to come by and my fondest hope is that scientists will get a hold of Felice Frankel's outstanding book and will use it to make my professional life easier! This amazing guide empowers users by translating Frankel's intuitive art into clear pathways for producing great photos about science and technology.
Barry Aprison, Director of Science and Technology, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago
...one of the year's more intriguing concepts for an art book (or is it a science book?) It's a rare yin and yang concoction that satisfied both sides of the brain.
Wired
The words [in On the Surface of Things] are no less remarkable [than the photos], balancing weighty concepts from the laboratory with a literate tone as light and elegant as a spider's web. A wonderful achievement indeed.
Scientific American
What's remarkable, especially since they haven't watered down the science, is how accessible the book is...We tend to think of surfaces as superficial, but for scientists surfaces are where things happen. Frankel shows us how beautiful those surfaces can be; Whitesides, how revelatory.
Newsweek
...a beautifully designed array of arresting images.
Dee Breger
Nature.com
A valuable resource for researchers trying to get the best picture they can of their findings.
Michael Felton
Today's Chemist at Work
...[a] truly remarkable book.
G.I. Barenblatt
Physics Today
...an art object as well as a lab hand-book...as good a workbook as any you will find.
J. Turney
The Times Higher Education Supplement
Envisioning Science can help you, your students and your trainees to produce engaging illustrations.
Lee A. Meserve
TRENDS in Endocrinology and Metabolism
Frankel's is a practical handbook that combines stunning pictures with descriptive text.
Wendy Winn
Technical Communication
Here's an important new guide to photographing scientific material and creating accurate yet dramatic photographic presentations.
Angelynn Grant
Design Annual
The text is highlighted by hundreds of stunning examples and detailed instructions.
Science News
There's no way to describe this book other than as a true teacher's gift—a master photographer of the art of science teaches her craft, with patience, graphic detail, and feeling to all of us who need to visualize and represent this world.
Roald Hoffmann, Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters, Cornell University, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (1981)
