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Intelligence,
Redesigned
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The textbooks written by Roy A. Gallant taught a generation of students 1 3 7

that science could also be art. But research progresses and artistic methods
evolve. So we gave these mid-century classics a 21st-century update.

by carl detorres
research by timothy lesle

photographs by Todd Tankersley

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20 minutes

30 minutes

Outer Core

Inner Core

Epicenter

12 minutes

9 minutes
Mantle

S waves
P waves
seismic sensors
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earthquake
visualization
updated illustration by jason lee

then Stand-alone seismographs now Global seismic networks

When Roy A. Gallant’s Exploring Under the

Earth was published in 1960, unconnected sensors scattered around the world could measure the force of an earth-
quake. But exactly how the shock waves rattled around the planet’s interior was understood less well, as the simplified
diagram below shows. Since then, the use of networked sensors and seismic modeling has vastly improved our knowledge
of deep-Earth dynamics. ¶ To depict the effects of a temblor more fully, illustrator Jason Lee researched how P waves
(which travel in compression like a Slinky) and S waves (which travel like undulations in a rope) move through the geologic
layers. “The challenge with an earthquake is depicting the motion and how it changes over time,” Lee says. “People think
of waves as linear, but a quake releases energy in all directions, making it hard to visualize.” ¶ Using simulations from a
program called Seismic Waves, created by Alan Jones at Binghamton University, Lee was able to trace the complex paths
traveled by that energy, including how the waves change their course (or type) when they hit areas of different density.
“I first visualized the various stages of an earthquake,” he says, “and then composited some of them into a single image
showing its progression through and around Earth’s core.”

Exploring Under the Earth

illustrated by john polgreen

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acidalia PLANITIA

arcadia PLANITIA

Olympus Mons

tempe terra

chryse PLANITIA

amazonis PLANITIA

lunae planum

daedalia planum

Valles Marineris

ARGYRE PLANITIA

aonia terra

210° E 240° E 270° E 300° E 330° E

mars mapping
map: NASA/JPL/Goddard/USGS

updated map by nasa

then Telescope and graphite now Satellite, laser, and supercomputer

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Exploring Mars
illustrated by lowell hess
30° E 60° E
map: NASA/JPL/Goddard/USGS
Maps created from Earth-based telescope images—like the one from
Exploring Mars (above)—can’t capture the detail of a modern satel-
lite survey. ¶ So in 2002, NASA and the US Geological Survey published
the shaded relief map (in background). It looks like a high-resolution
photograph, but it’s actually a computer image generated from more
than 600 million laser measurements of the Martian surface. The Mars
Orbiter Laser Altimeter spent about four years scanning the planet,
promethei terra
90° E 120° E 150° E
taking measurements at 300-meter intervals over the entire surface.
The data was transmitted back to Earth, where it was converted to a
digital elevation model, with red showing the highest elevations and
blue the lowest. ¶ Researchers are currently using the next generation
of this technology to chart the moon. These maps are the culmination of
millions of dollars of research—a far cry from the vintage chart crafted
with a telescope and tools available at an art supply store.
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atmospheric
IMAGERY
updated illustration by bryan christie

then 2-D now 3-D

As the space age dawned, people took new interest in the skies above. Two-­dimensional maps of Earth’s
atmosphere like the one at right showed the distances involved in, say, putting a satellite into orbit. But a 3-D presentation of the
same information can provide a more intuitive feel for the structure of the atmosphere. ¶ “The challenge in this piece,” illustrator
Bryan Christie says, “is to create a richer experience—through light, shadow, refraction, and opacity—without adding clutter or los-
ing legibility.” Christie’s studio not only depicted the atmospheric layers more accurately (including details like the mesosphere,
missing in the earlier diagram), he also created a graphic that can stand alongside the classics of yesteryear as a work of art.

Exosphere
375–6,200 miles Hubble SPACE Telescope
370 miles

Space Shuttle
350 miles

INTERNATIONAL
Space Station
250 miles

TRMM Satellite
THERMOSPHERE 250 miles
53–375 miles (VARIES)

SpaceShipONE
69.6 miles

ULTRA-THIN FILM BALLOON

32.9 miles
Mesosphere
31–53 miles

F-15
12. 3 miles NASA
Super-Pressure
Balloon
20.8 miles
Stratosphere 10–31 miles

Boeing 747
6.6 miles
satellite image: NASA

Troposphere 0–10 miles

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Exploring the Weather

illustrated by lowell hess

MOUNT EVEREST 5. 5 miles

satellite image: NASA

For a gallery of images from

vintage science books, as well
as interviews with science writer
Roy A. Gallant and illustrator
Lowell Hess, go to Wired.com.