"With the invention of printing, scientists had to find ways to convert an image to a reproducible form to accompany the printed text. The first printed illustrations were woodcuts, and soon copper-plate engravings were added to the repertoire. Beginning about 1700, other techniques for printing images were invented, including mezzotint, aquatint, wood engraving, and lithography. Color was initially applied by hand, but techniques for printing in color slowly emerged. With the appearance of photography in 1839, methods for converting a photographic image to print had to be developed."
--Dr. William B. Ashworth, Jr.
Associate Professor of History, University of Missouri-Kansas City; Consultant for the History of Science, Linda Hall Library
Oliver Uberti is a scientific illustrator and visual journalist who has traveled the world with a sketchbook in hand. A former Senior Design Editor at National Geographic Magazine, he will share some favorite assignments, reveal the process of distilling stories into iconic images, and show why scientific illustration is as relevant in science today as it was for lithographers in the 19th century.
- from the LHL Hedgehog, no.52, Spring 2013
Need help with terms such as "intaglio" or "mezzotint?" See this illustrated dictionary of artistic materials and methods.