Beauty of Science

Absolute magic

Beauty of Science was founded by Yan Liang Ph.D. in 2016 to create inspiring science content with a strong emphasis on artistic presentation.

The team now includes 30 members with backgrounds in science, art, design, coding and education. This enthusiastic group is passionate about bringing the beauty and wonders of science to all generations, especially students.

We were interested to hear how they made chemistry so inspiring and exciting to a wide audience.

We’ve asked Yan Liang and Wenting Zhu, the lead photographer of Beauty of Science, to give us some insights into their world.

When did you first realise there was such beauty to be found in chemistry?

YAN:
As a middle school student, I became fascinated with chemistry the moment I saw magnesium combustion demonstrated in the classroom. To me, it was pure magic.

WENTING:
I started using a simple microscope to make abstract art in college and fell in love with the beautiful textures and patterns formed when different fluids are mixed together.

Did it surprise you it has become so popular?

YAN and WENTING:
Yes, especially when we realized our chemistry and fluid footage found usage beyond educational purposes and science popularization, such as in commercials and TV dramas.

Was there a breakthrough moment?

YAN:
My first breakthrough was over 5 years ago when Beautiful Chemistry was released. It was quite innovative and the project was well received at the time. The second breakthrough came when Wenting joined the team about 3 years later. Wenting brought a unique artistic vision to our work.

WENTING:
After I joined Beauty of Science, I created the MiniSeries, an art project which explores the microscopic world. Many of the films are about the beauty of fluid dynamics.

Magic Captured
Are you surprised that your work is used both creatively and educationally?

YAN and WENTING:
Yes! We guess the reason is that chemistry is a language spoken by nature that we all respond to. What’s fascinating is that creative minds always find new ways to interpret and give life to visuals beyond our imagination.

What has influenced your work?

YAN and WENTING:
We love the wonders of science. We wanted to capture them in our own way and share them with others.

What’s your favourite shot?

YAN and WENTING:

We love all our work.
How complex is the technique used to achieve eye-catching videos?

YAN and WENTING:
We use macro and micro photography to capture our imagery. It’s easy to capture our ideas, but to get something really beautiful we need to spend a lot of time on the videos before the magic happens.

Can you tell us more about your future projects?

YAN and WENTING:
In the near future, we hope to produce more films for Envisioning Chemistry, an online exhibition that blends chemistry and art. We want to reveal the beauty of chemistry through special techniques such as microphotography, time-lapse and high-speed photography as well as infrared thermal imaging. We’re working towards a complete coverage of some of the most beautiful chemical reactions.

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