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D'Arcy Thompson Art Exhibitions

image from Coded Chimera

Two exhibitions marking the start of an Art Funded project to enable the University of Dundee to build a collection of art inspired by the celebrated polymath D'Arcy Thompson are now showing in the Tower Building.

Coded Chimera in the Tower Foyer Gallery features the results of a research project by sculptor Bruce Gernand, a tutor at Central St Martins in London. Gernard's project was developed in association with the Natural History Museum and the Cambridge Computer Lab and explores the ideas of morphogenesis (the study of biological dynamics) pioneered by D'Arcy Thompson.

In the Lamb Gallery, three artists present their responses to the collection held at the University's D'Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum and to Thompson's ideas and writings. Professor Roger Wilson, B E Cole and Stuart Mackenzie have combined to create Heresies, named after the word Thompson used to describe his own controversial theories. The exhibition features paintings, prints, drawings and sculpture.

The exhibitions runs until 16 April (Coded Chimera) and 23 June (Heresies). Find out more information.

Cardiology Exhibition at Ninewells

Heart model

Mending the Broken Heart: The Evolution of Cardiology in Tayside is a new exhibition at the Tayside Medical History Museum, which charts the progress of diagnosis and treatment of heart disease over the past century, concentrating on local achievements. The roots of modern cardiology can be traced to a small farm outside Scone in Perthshire, where the noted general practitioner and cardiologist Sir James Mackenzie was born. Mackenzie revolutionised the investigation of heart disease and at the start of the 20th century he was widely recognised as the world authority on the heart.

From modest beginnings at Dundee Royal Infirmary in the 1920s, the Cardiology department in Dundee has flourished into an international centre of excellence. The exhibition explores the pioneering cardiac catheterisation studies of Sir Ian Hill's team in the 1950s and 60s through to more recent developments in diagnosis, imaging and therapy. The displays feature unique instruments, equipment and treatments used by Mackenzie, Hill and other local pioneers - find out more.

New Physics Display

A new permanent display of historic Physics instruments has been unveiled in the foyer of the Harris Building in the Geddes Quadrangle. It includes some of the earliest equipment used in the department as well as more recent items such as material relating to the pioneering experiments in amorphous silicon carried out in the 1970s and 80s by Walter Spear and Peter LeComber. The display is to be a permanent feature of the building and can be seen by visitors during normal working hours.

Vist the Physics collection website to find out more.

See our collections on Flickr

We've recently uploaded more images of our objects, specimens, displays and exhibitions onto the Flickr website. Why not check it out here?