News from the Library February 2009

Crossett Library and Jennings Music Library—Bennington College

Art as Science, Science as Art

New
Book Selections by Hannah Wolfe
Documentaries
Atlas of Human Anatomy and Surgery: The
Complete Coloured Plates of 1831-1854
This book was a landmark in medical history, it is
If you see Dana Wolfson
not only very beautiful but incredibly thank her for introducing
comprehensive. The lithographs are pinnacle of the library to Ironweed
medical illustration still unsurpassed to this day. Film Club. Our new
subscription means every
Night Vision: The Secret Designs of Moths
While moths are typically seen as drab in month you’ll see new
comparison to butterflies the level of detail and “edgy, enlightening,
variety in these images puts them in a new light. entertaining independent
The scales and fur of the moths create intricate documentaries and short
and delicate patterns in a lovely array of muted
colors. films addressing
provocative subjects and
The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady progressive, forward-
The journal of Edith Holden, a children's book thinking themes.
illustrator, went undiscovered for 70 years until
found in 1977. It is full of naturalistic illustrations
Additionally, “each film is
of the flora and fauna that Edith Holden presented with an
encountered daily, along with anecdotes and organization committed to
quotes. making a difference” so if
Birds of America you find a particular topic
John James Audubon, a naturalist, ornithologist compelling you have a
and painter, decided to create a definitive guide to starting point for taking
all the North American birds in 1820. While he action.
only painted 497 out of over 700 birds in America,
435 of which are included in this book, more
contemporary bird artists are still measured
against his standard. New Mathematics Books
Visions of Nature: The Art and Science of
Ernst Haeckel
Ernest Haeckel was both a zoologist and an
illustrator. His illustration and writing, which was
more accessible to the general public, popularized
Darwin's work. His work, while it is realistic, is
very ornamental and delicate.

Embryology of the Ovary and Testis

These cell plates have an element of chaos and The Princeton Professor
order, and a wonderful quality of line. Another Companion to Stewart’s Cabinet
excellent source of cell plate images that are more Mathematics of Mathematical
orderly but just as fascinating is the periodical Curiosities
Botany.

The Sol LeWitt Exhibit at MASS MoCA

Review by Alex Grimley
You can The retrospective exhibition of Sol
check out free LeWitt at MASS MoCA (on display until
admission 2033) features no less than 80 of the Number and
passes for artist's wall drawings spanning four Numbers Lewis Carroll
MASS MoCA decades. Among the first conceptual in Numberland
and the Clark
artists, LeWitt would write instructions The Numbers Game: The
Art Museum at
the front desk for how a drawing was to be executed, Commonsense Guide to
of Crossett sell it to a collector or museum and Understanding Numbers
have his specialists create the drawing in the New, in Politics and
Library. in Life.
on site. Read the entire review here