All Possible Photons: The Feynman Diagrams of Edward Tufte It is little wonder that Edward Tufte has a lingering fascination with Feynman: both men bring to their work an instinctive understanding of the connection between sight, thought, and perception. Tufte, whom the New York Times described as “the da Vinci of data” for his elegant, polymathic approach to data visualization, has since become fascinated by the extra dimensionality that sculpture affords. In his latest exhibit, Tufte’s stainless steel sculptures pay tribute to Richard Feynman, whose eponymous diagrams revolutionized theoretical physics. As described in the show’s catalogue: “Feynman diagrams depict the space-time patterns of particles and waves of quantum electrodynamics. These mathematically derived and empirically verified visualizations represent the space-time paths taken by all subatomic particles in the universe. The resulting conceptual and cognitive art is both beautiful and true… Gathered together, as in the 120 diagrams showing all possible space-time paths of 6-photon scattering, the stainless steel lines (and their variable shadow, airspace, light, color, form) reveal the endless complexities that result from multiplying and varying fundamental elements.” You can see more of Tufte’s work here; a (relatively) simple explanation of Feynman diagrams can be found here.    - Alex Tesar

All Possible Photons: The Feynman Diagrams of Edward Tufte

It is little wonder that Edward Tufte has a lingering fascination with Feynman: both men bring to their work an instinctive understanding of the connection between sight, thought, and perception. Tufte, whom the New York Times described as “the da Vinci of data” for his elegant, polymathic approach to data visualization, has since become fascinated by the extra dimensionality that sculpture affords. In his latest exhibit, Tufte’s stainless steel sculptures pay tribute to Richard Feynman, whose eponymous diagrams revolutionized theoretical physics. As described in the show’s catalogue:

“Feynman diagrams depict the space-time patterns of particles and waves of quantum electrodynamics. These mathematically derived and empirically verified visualizations represent the space-time paths taken by all subatomic particles in the universe.

The resulting conceptual and cognitive art is both beautiful and true… Gathered together, as in the 120 diagrams showing all possible space-time paths of 6-photon scattering, the stainless steel lines (and their variable shadow, airspace, light, color, form) reveal the endless complexities that result from multiplying and varying fundamental elements.”

You can see more of Tufte’s work here; a (relatively) simple explanation of Feynman diagrams can be found here.   

- Alex Tesar

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Powers of Ten Powers of Ten Powers of Ten Powers of Ten

Powers of Ten

Powers of Ten is a seminal documentary film produced in 1977 by Charles and Ray Eames, better known in their lifetimes as boundary-pushing designers and architects. It attempts to do visually what exponents do mathematically: that is, render intelligible the unfathomably vast and the infinitely small. Beginning at a lakeside picnic, the camera pans out to the edge of the observable universe before diving into the human body, passing through an individual cell to the vibrations of its component carbon atoms. The film itself has aged surprisingly well, and its central premise—making the microcosm and macrocosm both relative and relevant to the human scale—hasn’t aged at all. You can watch it and further explore each order of magnitude here.

- Alex Tesar

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