About the Exhibit

This exhibit shows how science and art can work together to produce attractive and informative images. Each image in the exhibit has both a story and a scientific application behind it. For example, “Citric” (bottom left) shows crystals of a common food ingredient, citric acid, which is not only pretty to look at but also an important phytochemical. “Angelic” (top left) is another image of crystals, this time of fullerene--an important new chemical form of carbon that was dissolved and precipitated from solution in tolulene.

The photomicrographs of Richard Lee will be complemented by photos of pond water micro-organisms (creatures) taken with a polarized light microscope by Alex Rakosy.

About the Artists

Richard Lee studied metallurgy at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. After his graduation in 1961, he joined an engineering research group at Argonne. As part of his work, he learned the art and science of metallography--the preparation and examination of materials with the microscope. Fascinated by the colorful and interesting microstructures, he began taking color slides and negatives, entered them in contests for photomicrographs, and received many awards. A crystal photograph, The Fish, which won first place in the Nikon “Small World” contest in 1990, has become his trademark.

Alex Rakosy is a retired microscopist. Alex was responsible for encouraging Richard to get into the art aspects of microscopy.

Location

The exhibit is part of the Argonne Open House on September 15, 2001. The images will be on display in the Cafeteria (Bldg. 213) of Argonne National Laboratory. Admission is free.

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