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12 Days of Science: Celebrating Christmas with Cool Images
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ... One cuddly monkey. The British Royal Society is highlighting its picture archive with a release of science illustrations for the 12 days of Christmas. This monkey snuggling a kitten came from "Gleanings of natural history, exhibiting figures of quadreupeds, birds, insects, plants, &c..." by naturalist George Edwards, published in 1764. Of the monkey, Edwards wrote:
"This Monkey was about the size of a large Cat, of a gentle nature in respect of hurting anyone. He loved playing with a Kitten, as most Monkies do...The Cat is added only to decorate the figure... I am informed he is a native of Guiney, on the coast of Africa. He was a very active, lively, diverting good-natured animal: but I was obliged to part with him for want of convenient room...I presented him to a right honourable Lord in Essex, who had a convenient menagery..."
Forget partridges in a pear tree or lords a-leaping. The British Royal Society, the world's oldest scientific society, is celebrating the 12 days of Christmas with gorgeous science illustrations from its picture library.
From a monkey cuddling a kitten to 12 stunning (no pun intended) jellies, the images explore different facets of biology, ornithology and geology. In place of five golden rings are five pink rings surrounding a portrait of Sir Tim Berners-Lee, an Internet visionary and professor at MIT. (The rings represent a "map" of the Web.)
