FROM ATOMS TO PATTERNS

124pp including approximately 140 colour images. Softback

The intriguing story of the Festival Pattern Group - a unique collaboration between scientists and designers at the Festival of Britain. Conceived by Dr Helen Megaw, a leading Cambridge crystallographer, and spearheaded by the Council of Industrial Design, the Festival Pattern Group co-opted diagrams of atomic structures for patterns on everyday products, including textiles, wallpapers, ceramics and glass. The result was a weird and wonderful collection of furnishings and accessories decorated with scientifically accurate crystal structure designs. Featuring numerous hitherto unpublished images and drawing on extensive new research this book provides a definitive account of the Festival Pattern Group and explores the science behind the designs. The book complements a major exhibition at the Wellcome Collection in London (24th April-10th August 2008)