Some of the awe-inspiring photos from photographer Ragnar Th. Sigurdsson’s new book Magma: Icelandic Volcanoes.

About the book:

After years of recording Iceland’s volcanoes up close, Sigurdsson undertook his latest project, to collect and preserve as many photographs of Icelandic volcanoes as he could find. Along with geophysicist Ari Trausti Gudmundsson, his friend for 25 years, Sigurdsson pored over archives, scanning and preserving hundreds of photos of eruptions on the small Nordic island. They are collected in the recently published book Magma: Icelandic Volcanoes. 

You can see more images in the Time gallery Iceland: Living With Volcanoes gallery or you can see them all by buying the book.

Images from the new book A Glorious Enterprise: The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and the Making of American Science by Robert McCracken Peck and Patricia Tyson Stroud with photographs by Rosamond Purcell. 

About the book:

Founded in 1812, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia stands today as the oldest natural history museum in the Western hemisphere. Early expeditions organized at the Academy were of central importance to the exploration of America’s western wilderness, and the plant and animal specimens that were brought back formed the foundation of a collection that today contains some eighteen million items. What began as a small gathering of devoted amateurs has grown into a vibrant international center for scientific education and research.

A Glorious Enterprise, the first complete history of the Academy, tells the story of the brilliant and passionate men and women who endeavored to acquire and disseminate knowledge of the natural world. Thomas Jefferson, John James Audubon, Robert Peary, Ernest Hemingway, and James Bond are just a few of the colorful Academy associates profiled in this lively narrative. Naturalist and historian Robert McCracken Peck and historical biographer Patricia Tyson Stroud take readers behind the scenes of the Academy, recounting the signal moments and achievements that shaped its first two hundred years—from its landmark discoveries in North America and around the world, through the construction of its famed dioramas in the 1930s, to the pioneering work of Academy scientists in water pollution and conservation long before these were topics of popular concern. The book is richly illustrated throughout with hundreds of archival images and stunningly original works by acclaimed photographer Rosamond Purcell that cast specimens from the Academy’s collections in a new light.

X is for Xray is the new interactive iPad book for kids from Touch Press, the people behind two of the coolest apps ever: The Elements and Solar System for iPad.

About the app:

X is for X-ray is based on the beautiful and astonishing X-ray photography of Hugh Turvey, Artist in Residence at the British Institute of Radiology. The accompanying text by award-winning children’s author Paul Rosenthal reinforces the concept of making the invisible visible and includes rhymes spoken by Dr Who actor Kerry Shale.

This title will delight young children, giving them a unique insight into the inner secrets of familiar everyday objects. It will also appeal to anyone with curiosity about the world, how things work and the power of X-ray technology to reveal the nature of reality.

Click here to watch the preview