Most people equate geology with dull, grey rocks, but petrology Professor Bernardo Cesare is tapping into their spectacular beauty with his MicROCKScopica project. Using a standard technique for analyzing mineral composition of rocks, Cesare cuts and grinds sections of rock into 30-micron-thick slices (that's three-hundredths of a millimeter), mounts them onto microscope slides and shines cross-polarized light through them. The result is a kaleidoscope of color that is as informative as it is beautiful.
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The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Kalliopi Monoyios is an independent science illustrator. She has illustrated several popular science books including Neil Shubin's Your Inner Fish and The Universe Within, and Jerry Coyne's Why Evolution is True. Find her at www.kalliopimonoyios.com. Follow Kalliopi Monoyios on Twitter
