The beauty of science

Earlier this year the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences sponsored a photography competition intended to "share the magic of science...with the world."¹ In today's issue of Science winners of the 2008 Visualization challenge are announced. The image at the left is of the diatom, Licmophora ehrenbergii, attached to a marine hydroid, Eudendrium racemosum. The photograph was taken by Mario de Stefano of the Second University of Naples.

The Science article images and honorable mentions in the categories of photography, illustration, informational graphics, interactive multimedia, and non-interactive multimedia. The images beautifully illustrate what Brian Greene said last summer. Science is an indispensable part of what makes life worth living.