Science Library: promoting the scientific arts

Walking into the Science Library you first see a large print at the end of the foyer, showing the shadowy images of some of the great scientists of the past: Darwin, Einstein, Newton, Marie Curie, and Brunel. As you come closer to the print, words start to emerge as the faces fade into the background, and you can see that the entire image is actually comprised of quotations from eminent scientists.

"This is a very visual place, rather than just textual," explained the University Librarian, John Arfield. "We see it as being the real focus for science at UWA – getting it out of the labs and corridors and into the public arena."

It was always a focus to make this building distinctively a science library by adorning the walls with relevant images, many of which have been derived from the work of the science community at UWA. "We also hope that students’ posters can be displayed here alongside the work of academics and artists," Mr Arfield said.

While it is important to showcase current work, Mr Arfield is adamant that libraries also need to provide a very strong connection with the past.

"Newton famously said that 'if I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.' We have tried to articulate that by the use of images of pioneering scientists, made from the stories of their lives, on the end panels of the book shelves."

The shelf ends were also a collaborative effort between the architects and Library staff, using a similar technique to the artwork displayed in the foyer.

"It could be considered a contemporary version of the marble busts found in college libraries in Cambridge," said Mr Arfield. "By using modern technology we can combine words into images, depicting the faces of the giants of the past, and even a few from the present."

The wide range of past giants includes Galileo, Gerty Theresa Corti, Hippocrates, and C.Y. O'Connor, alongside contemporary scientists such as Professor Barry Marshall, Linda Buck, and Sir Gustav Nossal.

Foyerprint