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‘published between 1617 and 1621 by Robert Fludd, an occult philosopher, physician, mathematician, astronomer and astrologer, Utriusque Cosmi observes the history of the worlds — the microcosm of the universe and the microcosm of life here on Earth. he suggested that prior to the former being created, there was a nothingness, a pre-universe. Fludd’s darkness has no bounds. he wrote ‘Et sic in infinitum’, which means ‘so to infinity’, on all four edges of a square. Fludd believed in three generative principles: darkness, light and water, from which emerged the element that constituted matter. his image of nothingness is both revolutionary and prescient.’

female ‘computers’ who worked at the Harvard college observatory in 1918. group includes Henrietta Swan Leavitt (sixth from left) and Annie Jump Cannon  (third from right). in the 1800s the Harvard observatory began photographing the skies, in particular stars and their spectral characteristics, using a technique that captured the images on glass plates. using complicated calculations, the women classified the stars, determined their brightness, and even discovered new stars, nebulae, and novae. many of their findings led to important discoveries about the universe, and their work helped clear obstacles for women in science.

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photograph: Philippe Halsman

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‘he spent the following summer—1931—traveling across the united states, to pasadena, chicago, ann arbor, and new york, lecturing on his new particle. oppenheimer and sommerfeld were among his traveling companions. prohibition was in force at the time, forbidding the sale of alcohol, which pauli found exceedingly trying. ann arbor, however, was close to the canadian border and there was plenty of opportunity for smuggling. he wrote to peierls, “in spite of the opportunity for swimming here I suffer much from the great heat. but under ‘dryness’ I don’t suffer at all.”  indeed he did not. by now he was drinking to excess. at a dinner party in ann arbor he fell down an entire flight of stairs. “i broke my shoulder and now must lie in bed until my bones are whole again—very tedious,” he wrote. he kept the real reason for his handicap a secret. sommerfeld called it an inverse ‘pauli effect’. later pauli commented jokingly that it was the only time in his life he had ever raised his hand in a ‘heil hitler’ salute.’

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photograph: Roy Glauber

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‘ at the sir john leman school in beccles, england, dorothy crowfoot hodgkin and her friend norah pusey, were the only two  girls in the chemistry class. they had to petition to take chemistry  rather than ‘domestic science’ with the other girls. ‘

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photographed by ralph morse, hours after his death.

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