Life [Hardcover]

Lennart Nilsson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2006

One of photography’s watershed moments occurred in 1965, when the cover of Life magazine featured Lennart Nilsson’s photograph of a living human embryo—the first time life at such an early stage had been captured on film. His classic bestseller A Child Is Born featured stunning photographs of life in the womb and earned him the sobriquet “The da Vinci of medical photography” (Chicago Tribune). Now, in this major work, Nilsson’s extraordinary images encompass a full human lifespan.

Using the world’s most exacting equipment, Nilsson reveals the interior form of the entire human body and its intricate workings as never seen before, in a book that is as stunning to behold as its contents. Featuring thoughtful essays by both a noted scientist and a renowned editor, LIFE shines a penetrating light on all of life’s fundamentals.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lennart Nilsson was born in Sweden in 1922, and still lives there. A master of scientific photography, Nilsson works at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, where he has the world’s most powerful electron microscope at his disposal.

Hans Wigzell is the chief scientific adviser to the Swedish government.

Mark Holborn has edited and contributed essays to books on the photographers Irving Penn and Richard Avedon, among others. He lives in England.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810958422
• ISBN-13: 978-0810958425
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 11.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #408,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

101 of 102 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing photography -- no narrative -- great coffee table book, October 20, 2006

By 

CA Cook (California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Life (Hardcover)

As other reviewers have said, the photography is top notch. I will focus my review on the difference between this book and his "classic", A Child Is Born. When I was deciding on my purchase I did not know which book would be better for my purposes, so I hope to shed some light on that for others.

This book has beautiful photographs displayed using the whole (rather large) page. It has identifying captions (a typical one is "4 months: the yolk-sac above the embryo") but no descriptive narrative otherwise. The pictures are amazing and many from the fetus/embryo section are duplicates of the photos in A Child Is Born. I think this is a great book if you are an admirer of Nilsson's photography or just interested in the human body and human reproduction.

A Child Is Born has narrative describing what happens at each stage of fetal development, accompanied by in-utero photos. It progresses from conception through each stage of fetal and embryonic development. It is a very helpful book to visualize what is happening inside the body of a pregnant woman -- IMHO it is the best pregnancy book out there.

Both books are wonderful but for different purposes, you may want both!

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT !!!, September 14, 2006

By 

Andrew J. Smith (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Life (Hardcover)

Is the only way to discuss the work of Lennart Nilsson!!
The man has put before us some of the most amazing photography.
This book takes an entire new look at the human body from the day of conception through one of the most spectacular journeys one could ever take.
Forgot the deep sea, forget deep space. Take yourself deep inside the human body and discover 300+ pages of sheer brilliance.
ABSOLUTELY AWESOME !!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful images of the human lifespan, October 19, 2006

By 

Scott George (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Life (Hardcover)

Lennart Nilsson took the first image of a living human embryo in the 1960s and stunned the world. Now, Life is an absolutely amazing book of images documenting human life from DNA through fetal development and birth. The second half of the book focuses on the human body, it's organs, tissues the things that eventually threaten life - bacteria and viruses.

If this sounds like a series of unappealing images, think again. Nilsson is taking images using a powerful electron microscope and illustrating parts of our world that no one else is doing. And, it is truly beautiful.

I highly recommend this book. This would be a very nice gift to expectant parents or tosomeone with a love of photography or science.