January 31, 2010
- Awesome Physics Illustrastions & Animations -
Found these can’t-remember-where, but they are awesome. All these and more available at this site.
Imagine that’s your consciousness,
raditating outwards
from the top of your head
to the bottom of your spine.
Putting aside my previous (and to be honest, ongoing)
obsession with magnetic fields as a metaphor,
I still feel there’s something important
about the two relationships depicted here.
And this is probably the more beautiful images I’ve seen recently.
It’s a depiction of a photon sphere,
which is essentially light from a star orbiting a black hole.
These makes me feel like those pictures of saints and angels must have made people feel in the “dark” ages…
>> These makes me feel like those pictures of saints and angels must have made people feel in the “dark” ages
At its best, science is a calling, a vocation. :)
Comment by speedbird — February 1, 2010 @ 6:17 am
Also it’s worth bearing in mind that this sort of image can in general only be made with some sort of computer. (Actually the top one is an interesting case, being possible in a ripple tank… but arguably, a ripple tank is a kind of analogue computer.)
Comment by speedbird — February 1, 2010 @ 6:24 am
I don’t disagree with you, but I was talking more about the invisible made visible, visual metaphors that explain the underlying forces that hold our world together. Currently, we believe in the vocation of science. Previously, they believed in the glory of God. In either case, its something to see these made visible.
But I will disagree that a computer is needed to make any of these. The first could be made using the mathematics behind the physics, and one of the old fashion zoetrope things. The second could be made with magnets, paper, iron filings and ink. The third, well, again, physics and paper. Computers make it easier, and they also help us understand the mathematics behind them, but are not absolutely necessary.
And if a ripple pool is an analogue computer, then so is everything else.
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Comment by Ian — February 1, 2010 @ 9:45 am
Another example:
http://freshphotons.tumblr.com/post/364599469/this-illustration-shows-a-cross-section-of-a-small
Comment by Ian — February 1, 2010 @ 10:26 am
>> if a ripple pool is an analogue computer, then so is everything else.
That’s sort of what I was trying to say, it just came out a bit garbled. I’m not sure /everything/ is a computer, but there are many, many things out there that reveal the wonder behind stuff, and silicon-chip-computers are a wonderful development in this line. To the extent that I’d say that that’s what they’re /for/. In fact I’ll go further: that’s what all technology’s supposed to do. If it ain’t revealing something, it’s no good.
Comment by speedbird — February 1, 2010 @ 10:47 am
Man, that freshphotons site is well cool, thanx!
Comment by speedbird — February 1, 2010 @ 10:49 am
Your post is making me think, darn it… where does the lost art of photography fit in this world?
Comment by speedbird — February 1, 2010 @ 10:59 am
Hell yeah. And glad to hear you like the freshphotons site. One of my more favorite tumble people.
And as for photography, my sister’s photographer, and she’s often made the point that photography literally means “light writer”. So basically, photography is the ultimate “making the invisible visible”, because it’s capturing a visual perspective and making it sharable.
Comment by Ian — February 1, 2010 @ 11:14 am