Science Design

Description: Rendered on a deep dark background, this artwork presents a starry sky above the arc of the great meridian sextant of Samarkand, a sight line to a bright star, and a band of mosaic tiles. The prince and astronomer Ulugh Beg (1394–1449) built a great observatory in Samarkand. His Zij-i Sultani catalogued 1,018 stars, the most accurate star catalogue since Ptolemy. A gift idea for astronomy lovers, space enthusiasts and students of the cosmos, and a fitting piece for a study, bedroom or office.

Description: This scientific diagram shows parallel rays of light converging through a convex lens to its focal point F, above a Latin motto on experience and knowledge, on a deep dark background. In his Opus Majus of 1267, the English friar Roger Bacon argued that without experience nothing can be sufficiently known. He studied lenses and optics and is seen as an early champion of experimental science. A gift idea for philosophy and history-of-science enthusiasts, and a fitting piece for a library corner, study or office.

Description: A detailed scientific illustration of stylized lungs above a two-chamber heart, with blood leaving the right side for the lungs and returning to the left side, set against a deep dark background. In 1242 the physician Ibn al-Nafis, working in Cairo, described the pulmonary circulation: blood passes from the right side of the heart through the lungs to the left side, more than three centuries before Harvey. A gift idea for physicians, nurses and medical students, and a thoughtful piece for a practice, office or study.

Description: Rendered on a deep dark background, this artwork presents a large circle with a smaller circle of half its radius shown in four positions, a point on the small circle moving back and forth along a straight diameter. In 1247 the Persian astronomer Nasir al-Din al-Tusi described the Tusi couple, which turns circular motion into straight-line motion. The device later appeared in the work of Copernicus. Made for math teachers, mathematicians and students who love an elegant proof, it brings classic mathematics to a classroom, study or home office.

Description: This scientific diagram shows a parabola y = x² and a circle intersecting on a coordinate grid, the intersection giving the root x = 2 of the cubic equation x³ + x = 10, on a deep dark background. The Persian mathematician and poet Omar Khayyam (1048–1131) solved cubic equations geometrically by intersecting conic sections, a remarkable step between Greek geometry and modern algebra. A gift idea for mathematicians, math teachers and engineers, and a quiet statement piece for a study, classroom or office wall.

Description: A detailed scientific illustration of a compass rose with a magnetic needle offset from true north by the angle δ, showing that true north is not magnetic north, set against a deep dark background. In his Dream Pool Essays of 1088, the Chinese scholar Shen Kuo gave the first known description of the magnetic needle compass and noted that it does not point exactly to true north: magnetic declination. A gift idea for geology lovers, geography teachers and earth-science students, and a fitting piece for a study or office wall.

Description: Rendered on a deep dark background, this artwork presents an open book decorated with eight-pointed geometric stars, beneath a pulse trace. Ibn Sina (Avicenna, 980–1037) completed his Canon of Medicine in 1025. Synthesizing Greek, Persian and Arabic knowledge, it served as a medical textbook in Europe and the Islamic world for six centuries. Made for doctors, nurses, medical students and everyone who works in healthcare, it suits a clinic, consulting room, study or student room.

Description: This scientific diagram shows a mountain on the curve of the Earth with the line of sight to the horizon, the dip angle α, the radius R and the formula R = h cos α / (1 − cos α), on a deep dark background. Around 1020, the Persian scholar Al-Biruni measured the radius of the Earth from the top of a mountain near Nandana by observing the dip of the horizon, an ingenious method based on trigonometry. Made for geologists, geographers and anyone who reads the story written in rocks and maps, it suits a study, classroom or office.

Description: A detailed scientific illustration of a framed plate of six surgical instruments, scalpel, forceps, hook, scissors, cautery and probe, inspired by the illustrated pages of Al-Tasrif, set against a deep dark background. Al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis, 936–1013), a physician of Córdoba, wrote Al-Tasrif, whose surgical volume describes and illustrates more than two hundred instruments. Translated into Latin, it was taught in Europe for centuries. A gift idea for physicians, nurses and medical students, and a thoughtful piece for a practice, office or study.

Description: Rendered on a deep dark background, this artwork presents a smallpox virion and a spiked measles virion side by side, separated by a not-equal sign. Around 910, the Persian physician Al-Razi (Rhazes) wrote the first known clinical description distinguishing smallpox from measles. His treatise is a landmark in the history of differential diagnosis. Made for doctors, nurses, medical students and everyone who works in healthcare, it suits a clinic, consulting room, study or student room.

Description: This scientific diagram shows an astrolabe-style dial ringed by the phases of the Moon, with 365 days and 5 h 46 m 24 s at its center, the measurement of the tropical year, on a deep dark background. The astronomer Al-Battani (c. 858–929), working in Raqqa, measured the length of the solar year as 365 days, 5 hours, 46 minutes and 24 seconds. His precise tables were later cited by Copernicus. Made for astronomers, stargazers and anyone who looks up at the night sky with wonder, it suits a study, bedroom or observatory corner.

Description: A detailed scientific illustration of a copper alembic heated over a furnace, its vapor rising, condensing in the beak and dripping into a glass receiver, set against a deep dark background. Jabir ibn Hayyan, the founding figure of Arabic alchemy in the eighth century, is credited with describing laboratory techniques such as distillation and crystallization. The word alembic itself comes from the Arabic al-inbiq. Made for chemists, chemistry teachers and anyone who loves the lab, it suits a laboratory, classroom, study or home office.

Description: Rendered on a deep dark background, this artwork presents a circle with its diameter of 20,000 and circumference of 62,832, ringed by petals, above Aryabhata's approximation π ≈ 62,832 / 20,000 = 3.1416. In his Aryabhatiya of 499 AD, the Indian mathematician and astronomer Aryabhata gave the value of pi as 62,832 divided by 20,000, or 3.1416, an exceptional precision for his time. Made for math teachers, mathematicians and students who love an elegant proof, it brings classic mathematics to a classroom, study or home office.

Description: Rendered on a deep dark background, this artwork presents a damped oscillating signal f(t) transformed into its frequency response F(s), with the integral F(s) = ∫₀^∞ f(t) e^(−st) dt in bold type. Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749–1827) developed the integral transform that bears his name. Engineers use it every day to solve differential equations and analyze circuits, control systems and signals. A gift idea for mechanical engineers, makers and engineering students, and a fitting piece for a workshop, office or study.

Description: This scientific diagram shows a brick-shaped cowpox virus particle inside a medallion, above the timeline 1796 to 1980: the story behind the word vaccine, on a deep dark background. In 1796 Edward Jenner protected a boy against smallpox using material from cowpox, vaccinia, from the Latin vacca, cow. Vaccination spread worldwide, and smallpox was declared eradicated in 1980. A gift idea for physicians, nurses and medical students, and a thoughtful piece for a practice, office or study.

Description: A detailed scientific illustration of a tall stack of alternating zinc, brine and copper discs wired to a bright spark, the voltaic pile of 1800, set against a deep dark background. In 1800 Alessandro Volta stacked discs of zinc and copper separated by cardboard soaked in salt water and obtained a steady electric current: the first battery. The unit of voltage, the volt, honors him. A gift idea for engineers, makers and electronics students, and a fitting piece for a workshop, desk area or study.

Description: Rendered on a deep dark background, this artwork presents a balloon decorated with gold bands, stars and dots in the spirit of 1783, with its wicker gondola, above the density relation ρ hot air < ρ cold air. In 1783 the brothers Joseph and Étienne Montgolfier launched a hot-air balloon at Annonay, and later that year it carried the first people into the sky. Hot air rises because it is less dense than cold air. A gift idea for pilots, aviation fans and aerospace students, and a fitting piece for a study or office wall.

Description: This scientific diagram shows a color spectrum with an extra band marked IR beyond the red, and three thermometers showing the temperature rising highest past the visible light, on a deep dark background. In 1800 William Herschel placed thermometers in the colors of a spectrum and found that the temperature was highest beyond the red end, where no light was visible. He had discovered infrared radiation. A gift idea for physicists, engineers and physics students, and a striking addition to a study, lab or office wall.

Description: A detailed scientific illustration of the Sun, the Earth and the five Lagrange points L1 to L5, with the equilateral triangles that locate L4 and L5, set against a deep dark background. In 1772 Joseph-Louis Lagrange found five points where a small body can stay in balance between two large ones. Today space telescopes are parked near the Sun–Earth L2 point. A gift idea for astronomy lovers, space enthusiasts and students of the cosmos, and a fitting piece for a study, bedroom or office.

Description: Rendered on a deep dark background, this artwork presents Watt's flyball governor, its spinning balls rising with speed to regulate the engine, above the definition of the watt, 1 W = 1 J/s. James Watt (1736–1819) transformed the steam engine with the separate condenser and adopted the centrifugal governor to control its speed automatically. The unit of power, the watt, is named after him. Made for engineers, inventors and anyone who loves to understand how things work, it suits a workshop, office or study.

Description: This scientific diagram shows sunlight focused by a burning lens onto mercury oxide under a glass bell jar, releasing bubbles of O₂, above the equation 2HgO → 2Hg + O₂, on a deep dark background. In 1774 Joseph Priestley focused sunlight on mercury oxide and collected a gas in which flames burned brightly: oxygen. He also invented carbonated water by dissolving carbon dioxide in water. Made for chemists, chemistry teachers and anyone who loves the lab, it suits a laboratory, classroom, study or home office.

Description: A detailed scientific illustration of a torsion balance with small spheres attracted by large lead spheres, above Newton's law F = G Mm / r², set against a deep dark background. In 1798 Henry Cavendish used a delicate torsion balance to measure the tiny gravitational pull between lead spheres. From it he calculated the density of the Earth, about 5.45 times that of water. Made for physicists, physics teachers and anyone curious about the laws of nature, it suits a lab, classroom, study or home office.

Description: Rendered on a deep dark background, this artwork presents a cross-section of tilted, near-vertical rock strata cut by an erosion surface and covered by younger horizontal layers. At Siccar Point in Scotland in 1788, James Hutton saw ancient vertical strata overlain by younger horizontal ones. He understood that the Earth is immensely old, shaped by slow processes over deep time. Made for geologists, geographers and anyone who reads the story written in rocks and maps, it suits a study, classroom or office.

Description: This scientific diagram shows needles scattered over parallel lines, those crossing a line highlighted, above the probability formula P = 2l / πt, on a deep dark background. In 1777 the naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon calculated the probability that a needle dropped on a lined floor crosses a line. The answer involves pi, so random throws can be used to estimate it. A gift idea for mathematicians, math teachers and engineers, and a quiet statement piece for a study, classroom or office wall.

Description: A detailed scientific illustration of the twinflower Linnaea borealis, a slender stem forking into two nodding bells, above its Latin name in italics, genus plus species, set against a deep dark background. Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) created binomial nomenclature, the two-part Latin naming system used for every species, from Homo sapiens to Linnaea borealis, the little twinflower named in his honor. Made for biologists, life science teachers and anyone fascinated by living things, it suits a lab, classroom, study or home office.

Description: Rendered on a deep dark background, this artwork presents a thermometer comparing today's scale, 0 for melting ice and 100 for boiling water, with the original inverted scale of 1742, marked by snowflakes and steam. In 1742 the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius proposed a hundred-degree temperature scale based on the melting and boiling points of water. Surprisingly, his original scale was inverted: 100 for ice and 0 for boiling water. A gift idea for physicists, engineers and physics students, and a striking addition to a study, lab or office wall.

Description: Rendered on a deep dark background, this artwork presents a double cone cut by three planes, with the three resulting curves below: ellipse, parabola and hyperbola. Hypatia of Alexandria (c. 355–415), one of the first women mathematicians known by name, taught mathematics and astronomy and wrote commentaries on the conic sections of Apollonius. Made to celebrate women in science and everyone who inspires the next generation of scientists, it suits a classroom, lab, study or office.

Description: This scientific diagram shows a wheel of the four humors, blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm, with their elements and qualities, ringed by the four temperaments, on a deep dark background. Galen of Pergamon (129–c. 216) developed the theory of the four humors, which dominated Western and Islamic medicine until the Renaissance. Its four temperaments still live on in everyday language. A gift idea for physicians, nurses and medical students, and a thoughtful piece for a practice, office or study.

Description: A detailed scientific illustration of the Earth at the center of a dashed deferent circle, with an epicycle carrying a planet along a looping retrograde path, set against a deep dark background. Around 150 AD, Claudius Ptolemy described a geocentric universe in the Almagest, using epicycles and deferents to predict planetary positions. His model guided astronomy for fourteen centuries until Copernicus. A gift idea for astronomy lovers, space enthusiasts and students of the cosmos, and a fitting piece for a study, bedroom or office.

Description: Rendered on a deep dark background, this artwork presents a bronze seismoscope whose spouts hold balls above receiving bowls, one ball falling to show the direction of a quake, above a seismogram trace. In 132 AD the Chinese astronomer and engineer Zhang Heng built the first known seismoscope. When the ground shook, a ball dropped from a dragon's mouth into a toad below, indicating the direction of the earthquake. A gift idea for geology lovers, geography teachers and earth-science students, and a fitting piece for a study or office wall.

Description: This scientific diagram shows an aeolipile, a sphere spinning above a fire on jets of steam from two bent nozzles, with Heron's formula for the area of a triangle, on a deep dark background. In the first century AD, Heron of Alexandria described the aeolipile, a sphere set spinning by jets of steam: the first known steam engine. He also gave the formula for the area of a triangle from its three sides. Made for engineers, inventors and anyone who loves to understand how things work, it suits a workshop, office or study.

Description: A detailed scientific illustration of a circle of radius R with a highlighted chord and central angle θ, ringed by stars, above the chord formula crd θ = 2R sin(θ/2), set against a deep dark background. Hipparchus of Nicaea (c. 190–120 BC) compiled the first known table of chords, the ancestor of the sine function. He also made one of the first star catalogues and discovered the precession of the equinoxes. A gift idea for mathematicians, math teachers and engineers, and a quiet statement piece for a study, classroom or office wall.

Description: Rendered on a deep dark background, this artwork presents the half-moon method: Earth, Moon and Sun forming a right triangle at the Moon, with the angle θ at Earth and the relation EM / ES = cos θ. Around 270 BC, Aristarchus of Samos proposed that the Earth revolves around the Sun, eighteen centuries before Copernicus. He also used the half-moon geometry to compare the distances of the Moon and the Sun. Made for astronomers, stargazers and anyone who looks up at the night sky with wonder, it suits a study, bedroom or observatory corner.

Description: This scientific diagram shows three nested circles, mortals, humans and Socrates, illustrating Aristotle's classic syllogism, on a deep dark background. Aristotle (384–322 BC) founded formal logic in his Prior Analytics. The syllogism, a conclusion drawn from two premises, remained the basis of logical reasoning for two thousand years and still underlies mathematics and computing. Made for thinkers, philosophers, scientists and lovers of the history of ideas, it suits a library, study or office.

Description: A detailed scientific illustration of the Greek word ATOMOS above an atom drawn on a medallion in the style of ancient Greek pottery, set against a deep dark background. Around 400 BC, Democritus and his teacher Leucippus proposed that all matter is made of tiny indivisible particles moving through empty space. The word atom comes from the Greek atomos, meaning uncuttable. A gift idea for physicists, engineers and physics students, and a striking addition to a study, lab or office wall.

Description: Rendered on a deep dark background, this artwork presents how Thales measured the Great Pyramid with a stick and its shadow: two similar triangles labeled H, h, L and l, and the proportion H/h = L/l. Thales of Miletus (c. 624–546 BC) is said to have measured the height of the Great Pyramid by comparing its shadow with the shadow of a stick. The idea rests on similar triangles and the intercept theorem. Made for math teachers, mathematicians and students who love an elegant proof, it brings classic mathematics to a classroom, study or home office.