Macaulay David; La Mothe Matt; Rothman Julia; Volvovski Jenny. The Where, The Why, and The How: 75 Artists Illustrate Wondrous Mysteries of Science

Chronicle Books, 2012 — 170 p. — ISBN 9781452108223, 1452108226A science book like no other, «The Where, the Why, and the How» turns loose 75 of todays hottest artists onto lifes vast questions, from how we got here to where we are going. Inside these pages some of the biggest (and smallest) mysteries of the natural world are explained in essays by real working scientists, which are then illustrated by artists given free rein to be as literal or as imaginative as they like. The result is a celebration of the wonder that inspires every new discovery. Featuring work by such contemporary luminaries as Lisa Congdon, Jen Corace, Neil Farber, Susie Ghahremani, Jeremyville, and many more, this is a work of scientific and artistic exploration to pique the interest of both the intellectually and imaginatively curious.Foreword
Introduction
What existed before the Big Bang?
What is dark matter?
What is dark energy?
How does gravity work?
Can anything escape a black hole?
What is the «god particle»?
What is antimatter?
Are there more than three dimensions?
What happens to time as you approach the speed of light?
How are stars born, and how do they die?
What is the origin of the moon?
What triggers reversals of Earth’s polarity?
What is Earth’s hum?
What drives plate tectonics?
Are earthquakes predictable?
Where does Earth’s water come from?
Could climate change cause ocean currents to shift?
Do rogue waves exist?
What is the structure of water?
Why doesn’t water freeze in clouds?
Why is each snowflake unique?
What creates the tornado vortex?
Why is the world green?
Can evolution outpace climate change?
Where did life come from?
What defined dinosaur’s diet?
What causes an ice age?
Where are the fossil chimpanzees?
What caused the extinction of the Neanderthals?
What explains latitudinal patterns in species diversity?
What determines the size of a primate social group?
Why do primates eat plants that produce steroid mimics?
Why do we age?
What is the circadian clock?
Why do we sleep?
Why do we dream?
Why do we yawn?
Why do we hiccup?
Why do we blush?
What causes depression?
What causes autism?
Why do placebos work?
What triggers puberty?
Do humans use pheromones?
Is sexual orientation innate?
Why do we have an appendix?
Why do we have fingerprints?
How do humans have the ability to learn language?
Do trees talk to each other?
How long can trees live?
Why do some plants eat animals? Do immortal creatures exist?
Why do some underwater organisms light up?
Why do whales beach themselves?
How do migrating animals find their way back home?
Why don’t animal’s muscles atrophy during hibernation?
Why do whales sing?
What does «chickadee» mean to a chickadee?
Why do pigeons bob their heads when they walk?
Do squirrels remember where they bury their nuts?
Why do cats purr?
What do honeybees say when they dance?
Why do humans and ants have so much in common?
How much can parasites change the social habits of their host?
Where will the next pandemic come from?
How much of human behavior is predetermined?
How does the brain give rise to the mind?
Why do we fall for optical illusions?
How flexible is the human brain?
Why are humans and chimps so different if they have nearly identical DNA?
Why do humans have so much genome «junk»?
How can a mature cell be «reborn»?
How do cells talk to each other?
How can cancer be such a biologically unlikely event, and still be so common?
Are nanomaterials dangerous?
Scientists
Artists
Index
Acknowledgments