
Philip Morrison was a well-known and respected MIT physicist.
EAMES THE POWER OF TEN SERIES
Just recently, the United States Postal Service issues a series of stamps highlighting their work. Charles and Ray Eames, renowned for their groundbreaking. Then, just as quickly, it reverses course and descends down to the level of a carbon atom. Both works depict the relative scale of the Universe according to an order of magnitude (or logarithmic scale ) based on a factor of ten, first expanding out from the Earth until the entire universe is surveyed, then reducing inward until a single atom and its quarks are observed. Starting with a closeup of a man sleeping near a lake, it makes its way quickly to the edge of the known universe. ”Ĭharles and Ray Eames were best known not as scientists or science educators, but as designers. The Powers of Ten films are two short American documentary films written and directed by Charles and Ray Eames. Presented by Pyramid Media written, produced, and designed by Eames Demetrios English version. And Nickelodeon Magazine has even turned these pictures into a child's “Powers of Ten Game. Powers of Ten Interactive: A Production of the Eames Office. For instance, thumbnail pictures at each power of ten have been collected into a poster, so you can view the different scales of the universe all at once. Starting with a closeup of a man sleeping near a lake, it makes its way quickly to the edge of the known universe. At a website based on the book you can view many of the pictures and find other interesting items. You don't have to buy Powers of Ten to enjoy it (although your money will be well spent if you do). We find the ability to imagine the relative sizes of biological objects to be crucial for understanding life. The film is based on an earlier book, Cosmic View: The Universe in Forty Jumps, by the Dutch educator Kees Boeke.Īs I discussed in the Octoentry in this blog, Russ Hobbie and I added a section on Distances and Sizes to the 4th edition of Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology, motivated in part by Powers of Ten. Powers of Ten was based on an earlier film by the Office of Charles and Ray Eames of the same title, which can be viewed on YouTube.

Stephen Jay Gould said of the book “The effect is stunning and teaches more about the size of things than any turgid treatise could.

The small central square frames the scene next inward. The step from one scene to its neighbor is always made a tenfold change: The edge of each square represents a length ten times longer or shorter than that of its two neighbors. Across from every black-framed page is a page of text and picture, a pause at each step along the journey to examine detail, evidence, or the history of knowledge. Each image stands against a black background, a little reminiscent of a darkened theater. The Herman Miller Eames lounge chair and ottoman an icon of bentwood, Midcentury design that costs 4,000 to 10,000 had its best sales year on record in 2021. By themselves, they present a visual model of our current knowledge of the universe, showing along one straight line both the large and the small. The core of this book is the scenes on the forty-two right-hand pages that follow.
