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Art Forms in Nature: radiolaria from Haeckel and Blaschka to 3D nanotomography, quantitative image analysis, evolution, and contemporary art

Theory in Biosciences volume 138, pages 159–187 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

The illustrations of the late nineteenth-/twentieth-century scientist/artist Ernst Haeckel, as depicted in his book Art Forms in Nature (originally in German as Kunstformen der Natur, 1898–1904), have been at the intersection of art, biology, and mathematics for over a century. Haeckel’s images of radiolaria (microscopic protozoans described as amoeba in glass houses) have influenced various artists for over a century (glass artists Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka; sculptor Henry Moore; architects Rene Binet, Zaha Hadid, Antoni Gaudi, Chris Bosse and Frank Gehry; and designers–filmmakers Charles and Ray Eames). We focus on this history and extend the artistic, biological, and mathematical contributions of this interdisciplinary legacy by going beyond the 3D visual, topological, and geometric analyses of radiolaria to include the nanoscale with graph theory, spatial statistics, and computational geometry. We analyze multiple visualizations of radiolaria generated through Haeckel’s images, light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, micro- and nanotomography, and three-dimensional computer rendering. Mathematical analyses are conducted using the image analysis package “Ka-me: A Voronoi Image Analyzer.” Further analyses utilize three-dimensional printing, laser etched crystalline glass art, and sculpture. Open sharing of three-dimensional nanotomography of radiolaria and other protozoa through MorphoSource enables new possibilities for artists, architects, paleontologists, structural morphologists, taxonomists, museum curators, and mathematical biologists. Distinctively, newer models of radiolaria fit into a larger context of productive interdisciplinary collaboration that continues Haeckel’s legacy that lay a foundation for new work in biomimetic design and additive manufacturing where artistic and scientific models mutually and robustly generate wonder, beauty, utility, curiosity, insight, environmentalism, theory, and questions.

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Source: Maartens (2017). b Marguerita Hagan (2018) had independently sculpted a three-layer test of a radiolarian and was surprised when Jungck sent her Fric’s image. The piece was one of many in her one-person show at the Philadelphia Area Fine Arts building

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Acknowledgements

Partial funding for this work was provided by grants to the first author by the Unidel Foundation of the University of Delaware and the Delaware Department of Education Math Science Partnership. Sabbatical support for the first author at the National Institute for Mathematical Biology Synthesis Center (NIMBioS) at the University of Tennessee and at the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC), Bangkok, Thailand, is greatly appreciated. This work would have been impossible except for the incredible assistance provided by Tim Leefeldt. Jordan Posner and J. P. Reindfleisch did some of the scanning electron microscopy and image analysis as student projects. Dr. Doug Boyer at Duke University was especially helpful in building MorpoSource data files for the 3D nanotomography data and 3D print files. Scanner time on a Zeiss XRadia 819 Ultra machine was generously provided by the Zeiss Facility at Thornwood, New York.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    John R. Jungck & Roger Wagner

  2. Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    John R. Jungck

  3. XRE (X-Ray Engineering), Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 5, 9052, Zwijnaarde, Belgium

    Denis van Loo

  4. Bathsheba Sculpture LLC, 28 Madison Street # 1, Somerville, MA, 02143, USA

    Bathsheba Grossman

  5. NECTEC (National Electronics and Computer Technology Center), Bangkok, 12120, Thailand

    Noppadon Khiripet, Jutarat Khiripet & Wongarnet Khantuwan

  6. Hagan Studio, 557 N 5th St, Philadelphia, PA, 19123, USA

    Margeurita Hagan

  7. ISE Lab 402, University of Delaware, 221 Academy St, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    John R. Jungck

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This article is a contribution to the Special Issue Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919): The German Darwin and his impact on modern biology—Guest Editors: U. Hossfeld, G. S. Levit, U. Kutschera.

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Jungck, J.R., Wagner, R., van Loo, D. et al. Art Forms in Nature: radiolaria from Haeckel and Blaschka to 3D nanotomography, quantitative image analysis, evolution, and contemporary art. Theory Biosci. 138, 159–187 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12064-019-00289-z

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Keywords

  • Haeckel
  • Radiolaria
  • 3D Nanotomography
  • 3D printing
  • Sculpture
  • Topological and geometric analysis
  • Voronoi diagrams
  • Delaunay triangulations
  • Computational geometry
  • Spatial statistics
  • Interdisciplinarity
  • STEAM