Extraordinary Science Photos by Fritz Goro

Aug 16, 2012 6 comments

Fritz Goro was one of the most influential photographers of all time, capturing images of scientific advancement from atomic orbitals, DNA helices, and computer chips to stars. For four decades his work was regularly published on Life Magazine and Scientific American.

He designed his own optical systems to capture (often for the first time, by anyone) everything from bioluminescence to the mechanisms behind the circulation of blood through a living body. He traveled the globe from the Antarctic, Mexican jungles and the Australian outback enduring brutal cold and searing heat; but more often than not, it was in the controlled, cool space of a laboratory or a studio that he crafted his most breathtaking, groundbreaking work.

When he died in 1986, at the age of 85, a former science editor at LIFE named Gerard Piel said of Goro that “it was his artistry and ingenuity that made [his] photographs of abstractions, of the big ideas from the genetic code to plate tectonics” so effective and so utterly memorable.

16 years after his death LIFE.com presents a selection of photographs that hint at the scope of Goro’s achievement while paying tribute to the boundless range of human intellect, curiosity and imagination. Here are some of my favorite images.

01_1203614

A pair of 90-day-old cow fetuses clearly visible inside an amniotic sac, 1965.

02_00836606

Fetus in an artificial womb, 1965.

04_00679937

Sheep that survived an atom bomb test are studied for radiation poisoning, 1949.

05_1121639

An anesthetized monkey has its brain activity monitored, 1971.

13_00843775

A speck of the world's first plutonium, 1946.

15_00522659

Blood circulating through a heart, 1948.

20_00979344

Research on cigarette smoking and lung cancer, 1953.

Comments

  1. Where did he find the artificial womb? They still haven't been invented today!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The picture captioned as a speck of the world's first plutonium looks more like a Lichtenberg figure to me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. He was an amazing man. I first met Mr. Goro and his wife in 1975( I was 10 years old). My father and I did the landscaping at him home in NY. I was fortunate enough to see many of his photographs both private and published.

    ReplyDelete
  4. can i see more of his works ??

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

More on Amusing Planet

{{posts[0].title}}

{{posts[0].date}} {{posts[0].commentsNum}} {{messages_comments}}

{{posts[1].title}}

{{posts[1].date}} {{posts[1].commentsNum}} {{messages_comments}}

{{posts[2].title}}

{{posts[2].date}} {{posts[2].commentsNum}} {{messages_comments}}

{{posts[3].title}}

{{posts[3].date}} {{posts[3].commentsNum}} {{messages_comments}}