In 1543, Andreas Vesalius stunned the world with detailed woodcuts that graphically revealed the inside of the human body. Some 460 years later, Alexander Tsiaras takes a much closer look in his new book, The Architecture and Design of Man and Woman. Vesalius based his images on crude dissection, but Tsiaras employs a more intricate technique: He layers 3-D high-resolution data - ultrasounds, CT and MRI scans, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and x-ray crystallography - to produce realistic and telescoping representations that burst through the skin and isolate the tiniest cells. While all the composites are scientifically correct, Tsiaras used software, built by his company Anatomical Travelogue, to add light and color. "My responsibility as scientist and journalist is to provide accurate information," says Tsiaras. "My desire as artist is to make the images beautiful." This release is the second installment in his four-part series on human development, which will culminate in 2008 with a look at how systems change from infancy to advanced age.
- Jenn Shreve
Architecture’s micro-MRI tour of the body includes a 7-month-old fetus
hair follicles
cross-section of a fingertip
cross-section of the brain
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