Pollen: The Hidden Sexuality of Flowers - Hardcover

Kesseler, Rob; Harley, Madeline

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1554072190 ISBN 13: 9781554072194

Publisher: Firefly Books, 2006

Synopsis

A scientific and artistic collaboration reveals a stunning, even sensual, microscopic world.

Pollen grains have fascinated the scientifically curious since the 17th century. They are minute, almost impossible to see without a high-powered microscope, and remain hidden beyond the beauty o the flower until the moment of release. Then the grains, like alien spaceships, are carried by wind, water or animal to achieve their purpose of procreation.

This beautifully produced and highly original book by an artist and botanical scientist portrays the perfect designs of these microscopic organisms. Special light and scanning electron microscopy are used to obtain astonishing images of pollen grains, which are combined with exquisite photographs of the parent plants.

Pollen describes and illustrates in minute detail the reproductive workings of plants ranging from tulips and lilies to orchids and palms. The structure and form of pollen set the scene for the remarkable events that occur from pollination to fertilization. Also included are literary references to plant reproduction, as well as early botanical illustrations.

Pollen is an intriguing book that is both informative and surprisingly beautiful.

About this title

About the Author:

Rob Kesseler is a visual arts professor and artist. Since 2001, he has been working with microscopic plant material at London's Royal Botanic Gardens.

Madeline Harley, PhD, FLS, is head of the palynology unit at the Royal Botanic Gardens. She is recognized internationally for her work in the study of pollen characteristics.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

The Art and Science of Pollen

by Rob Kesseler and Madeline Harley

This book is the result of the shared fascination of an artist and a scientist with the perfect design of organisms too small to be seen without a microscope -- pollen grains, which are enclosed beyond the accessible beauty of the flower until the moment of release, when they will be carried by wind, water or animal vectors to achieve their purpose, procreation. Pollen is ubiquitous; in childhood we all learn a little of plant reproduction and the role of the bee but few people are aware of the astonishing diversity of the structure of pollen grains, although these tiny and extraordinary diversity of the structure of pollen grains, although these tiny and extraordinary forms have fascinated the scientifically curious since the seventeenth century.

Throughout history there have been polymath geniuses whose passion for understanding enabled them to traverse many disciplines, Leonardo da Vinci being the exemplar. In the seventeenth century came Robert Hooke, chemist, physicist and surveyor of the City of London, whose pioneering development of the compound microscope was to have such an impact on the scientific world. Printed in 1665, his seminal book Micrographia was a landmark in popular science publishing. Not only did Hooke describe in an accessible language his microscopic observations of anything from woven strands of silk to a flea but also he illustrated each specimen with graphic precision, giving the subjects an 'other worldly' appearance. We have become so used to the legacy of richly illustrated books which it engendered, that it is hard to imagine the sensation that Micrographia caused when it was first published. It pre-dated by almost a century the proliferation of popular illustrated books generated to satisfy the growing fascination across Europe for collecting and displaying 'nature's ornaments', with titles such as Spectakulum Naturae & Artium, 1765, and Amusemens Microscopiques, 1776. The relationship between art and science has ebbed and flowed since Hooke's time, Goethe, who would send himself to sleep at night by visualizing the developmental cycle of plants, had a less happy time. He was surprised and dismayed to find that his essay, On the Metamorphosis of Plants, although recognized thirty years later as a serious contribution to botany, was ignored at the time by botanists and public alike. He complained, "Nowhere would anyone grant that science and poetry can be united. People forget that science had developed from poetry and the failed to take into consideration that a swing of the pendulum might benificently (sic) reunite the two, at a higher level and to mutual advantage."

After a period of separation, the cultures of science and art are currently enjoying a collaborative renaissance. This book is a testament to this new spirit of co-operation. The sophistication and quality of the images produced scientifically is such that they have a clarity and detail that may call into question the need for any artistic intervention at all. However, this would be to ignore the role of the artist in interpreting and translating new scientific imagery, acting as the conduit through which the cultural consequences of scientific discovery are developed. Contemporary audiences of all ages are showing a growing appetite for images of the natural world that not only evoke a sense of awe through their sheer magnificence but also offer the opportunity to learn more about the workings of life.

It is with great pleasure that we are now able to share the fruits of our science-art collaboration.

About this edition

• Publisher: Firefly Books
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1554072190
• ISBN 13: 9781554072194
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 264
• Editor: Papadakis Alexandra