When a portrait of aviation pioneer Ruth Rowland Nichols was taken while she stood beside her Lockheed Vega aircraft in 1931, she was already one of the most accomplished pilots in the world. That photo was captured the year she also became the first woman to hold simultaneous international records in altitude, speed, and long distance.
Nichols’ striking portrait is just one of hundreds of images and illustrations highlighting humans’ pursuit of knowledge in Worlds Unfolding: Science on the Page, published by Princeton University Press. The five-volume tome features more than 625 illustrations and an introduction by engineer and PBS personality Bill Nye. Moreover, it’s an exploration of global science, medicine, and technology through the remarkable archives of The Huntington in San Marino, California.
The Huntington Library contains a trove of research papers, natural history volumes, photographs, and ephemera that trace the human pursuit of knowledge over the course of centuries. From 18th-century human anatomy studies to aeronautic engineering, the book chronicles our understanding of natural history, electricity, space, geology, flight, and much more.
Compiled by Jennifer A. Watts, Daniel Lewis, Joel A. Klein, and Natalie Lawler, Worlds Unfolding spans the 10th century to today. Readers will discover incredible photos like an uncanny double-exposure portrait of Nikola Tesla sitting calmly in a lab while an enormous electrical current moves through his namesake coil. And Eadweard Muybridge’s iconic early photographs capture animals and figures in motion, marking the first time photographic methods were used to essentially record the passage of time.
The set comprises individual volumes titled Above, Below, Within, Beyond, and Alive, all of which are presented in a slipcase. “Across centuries of trial and error, illusion and triumph, the history of science is a continuously unfolding quest,” says a statement.
Worlds Unfolding will be released on October 10. Pre-order your copy from Bookshop.
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