October 1, 2015
1 min read
Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAmBook Review: Polar
Recommendations from Scientific American
By Sabrina Imbler
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Polar: A Photicular Book
by Dan Kainen and Carol Kaufmann
Workman, 2015 (($25.95))
The ground at the earth's polar regions may be frozen, but the stillness stops there. Open Polar, and the icy expanses of the top and bottom of the world melt into motion: penguins waddle in packs, snowy owls swoop down on prey and auroras swirl in the nighttime sky (left). The reader actually sees the mirage of motion. To craft this illusion, artist Kainen sliced a series of images into thin, vertical strips and arrayed them like a picket fence behind a plane of lenses to create hologramlike, moving collages. Alongside the pictures, writer Kaufmann's lively essays dive into the vital details of each creature and phenomenon depicted. With sly poignancy, the book reminds the reader of the beauty that dwells at the ever shrinking ends of the planet.
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