Isaac Newton may have long presided over the British Library in the form of Eduardo Palaozzi's vast sculpture at the library's entrance, but only now is the London institution hosting its first science exhibition. Beautiful Science catalogues attempts to make sense of the world through visualizations from the seventeenth century to today, drawing on the vast archives of the United Kingdoms national library. On show are graphics from alchemist Robert Fludd's 1617 work Great Chain of Being - which attempts to explain the Universe from stars to animals, vegetables and minerals - to a huge collection of modern Circos diagrams used to visualize genetic information and highlight relationships between species. "Infographics are now a staple of every newspaper in the country. In many ways this seems like a new phenomenon," says curator Johanna Kieniewicz. "What I was really keen to show is that it actually has a very interesting and rich history."
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