Indeed beautiful images, but that's not surprising.
Chemistry was my undergraduate major and I long ago learned to appreciate the stunningly intricate mysteries implicit in pure science. It never seemed a "dry" or "cold" subject to me. Chemicals seemed in their own ways lively, colorful, artful beings, fun to learn about and interact with.
The ability to model molecules on the computer provides quite a few revelations. In the world I work in now the relation of substrates to neuronal cell receptor sites is mind bogglingly complex, and I'm pretty sure no one would understand much at all without the aid of computer visualizations.
In any case, to call a thing "beautiful" is a statement that we understand it, and the greater the depth of our understanding, the more beautiful it will appear to be. At the core, science and art are indistinguishable.
Truly great beauty is composed in layers, having superficial appeal to the casual viewer, yet so much greater meaning and reward as it's seen time and again, and with ardent study finally revealing its hidden meanings that lie beneath the surface.
This is incredible. Wish more organizations and institutions took this approach of beautiful and striking science, then perhaps more scientists would start the value other new ways to communicate science.
Chemistry was my undergraduate major and I long ago learned to appreciate the stunningly intricate mysteries implicit in pure science. It never seemed a "dry" or "cold" subject to me. Chemicals seemed in their own ways lively, colorful, artful beings, fun to learn about and interact with.
The ability to model molecules on the computer provides quite a few revelations. In the world I work in now the relation of substrates to neuronal cell receptor sites is mind bogglingly complex, and I'm pretty sure no one would understand much at all without the aid of computer visualizations.
In any case, to call a thing "beautiful" is a statement that we understand it, and the greater the depth of our understanding, the more beautiful it will appear to be. At the core, science and art are indistinguishable.
Truly great beauty is composed in layers, having superficial appeal to the casual viewer, yet so much greater meaning and reward as it's seen time and again, and with ardent study finally revealing its hidden meanings that lie beneath the surface.