Images Dated 22nd December 2006

Brachiosaurus dinosaurs

Brachiosaurus dinosaurs at water, computer artwork. Brachiosaurus was the tallest dinosaur, standing up to 16 metres tall. It could weigh up to 70 tons. Unusually for a dinosaur, its front legs were longer than its hind legs. It was herbivorous, probably feeding on leaves high in the trees. It lived in the late Jurassic period, between 155 and 145 million years ago. It is thought to have been a social animal, living in herds

© ROGER HARRIS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Early electric battery, 1850

Early electric battery. Historical artwork of a voltaic pile, the first modern type of electric battery, which was invented in 1800 by the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745-1827). A voltaic pile consists of alternating units of plates of two different metals (here silver and zinc) and a piece of wet cardboard or cloth. A pile of these units makes up the voltaic pile shown here. Wires at top and bottom carry the electric current, produced by a chemical reaction, to power an electrical device. Zinc-silver batteries are one of most efficient types of wet batteries, but due to the high cost of silver are today only used in devices like Mars rovers. Artwork from Scientific Recreations (Tissander Gaston, 1850)

© SHEILA TERRY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Nostradamuss Magic Mirror

Nostradamus's Magic Mirror. Nostradamus (at right, 1503-1566) was a French physician and astrologer. Here he is using a magic mirror to foretell the future to Catherine de Medicis (1519-1589), Queen of France (at left). The Queen read Nostrodamus's almanacs in 1555, and summoned him to Paris to explain the hints of threats to the royal family. One story says that Nostradamus used a magic mirror to show a series of kings (right) who were deposed by Jesuits (left). This illusion could have been achieved by reflection off another mirror, though it is unlikely that Nostradamus ever used such a magic mirror'. Nostradamus later become physician and counsellor to the French royal family. Artwork from The Picture Magazine (volume 111, London, 1894)

© SHEILA TERRY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY