5 Scientific Illustration Books You Must Read

Looking for the top scientific illustration books to add to your collection? Explore the fascinating world of scientific illustration with these must-read titles.

1. The origin of species | Various authors

This text, adapted by scientists Juli Peretó and Andrés Moya from the original English language, attempts to reach non-specialist readers with its history of science. With more than 200 illustrations by Carles Puche, plants, animals and fossils are portrayed with Darwin's unbolted mateixa. This illustrated version, tries to put the general public to bed to the preeminence of Darwin in the history of human thought, to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of the English naturalist. In short, this is a masterpiece of scientific thought that leads us to ask ourselves why we are with each other.

2. Manual of scientific and naturalist drawings | Carles Puche and Jordi Corbera

A good drawing is art and skill, but it is also technique, resources and expressive tricks. These notes supply the bases, so they will be very useful, and also summarize the skills that the authors have developed over the years. This work provides enough useful information, as a manual for anyone who wants to establish a first contact with the world of scientific detailed illustration. Aimed mainly at people with very little or no familiarity with drawing, the book explains the different aspects of scientific and naturalistic drawing, from the field note to the final drawing in the studio. Carles Puche and Jordi Corbera, who have become masters of this art, present some guidelines that, in themselves, are a true hyperdrawing. Indeed, these notes are an instrument and at the same time a result.

3. Larousse of Prehistoric Mammals | Alan Turner

With this book you can travel to the remote past and discover how the prehistoric mammals that preceded the current species lived. Prehistoric Mammals contains 20 double pages with spectacular scenes based on scientific evidence. An informative work, with texts by Alan Turner and illustrations by Mauricio Antón, which recreates through high-quality images the lives of beings very close to us

4. Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer | Sarah B. Pomeroy and Jeyaraney Kathirithamby

Science and art combine in this captivating, lushly illustrated biography of Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717), one of the world’s first entomologists, who was also a botanist, naturalist, and celebrated artist.

In 1660, at the age of thirteen, Merian began her study of butterfly metamorphosis—years before any other scientist published an accurate description of the process. Later, she and her daughter Dorothea ventured thousands of miles from the Netherlands to the rain forests of South America seeking new and amazing insects to observe and illustrate.

5. Animal Drawing: Anatomy and Action for Artists | Charles Knight

This book was written and illustrated by Charles R. Knight (1874–1953), the acknowledged master of animal drawing and the man who American Biographies agrees "was generally recognized as the most distinguished painter of animal life." Those who have seen his murals, paintings, and bronzes of both prehistoric and modern animals in the New York Museum of Natural History or any one of a dozen other major zoological museums know why his work is so highly regarded. His animal portrayals are startlingly alive with beauty, virility, charm, power, and expression. He seems to have caught animals in the very act of feeding, stalking, resting, or in any one of the thousands of completely natural attitudes that animals assume.

Have you ever wanted to learn to illustrate or paint your own scientific designs?
In the online course Scientific Illustration of Animals in Watercolor Illustrator, Balamoc demonstrates how you can explore all the possibilities of using watercolor technique to create detailed and lively illustrations of animal life. The world of scientific illustration is one filled with shapes, colors, and details, where creativity and realism walk hand in hand.

You may also like this blog post on 5 Anatomy Books to Improve Your Figure Drawing

Or perhaps you'd like to understand more about what botanical illustration is and how it differs from scientific illustration.