The alluring mermaids sighted by lonely mariners. The winged angels, by turns avenging and comforting, that abound in Christian art. The fearsome Minotaur of Greek mythology. Animal-headed deities, from the elephant-headed Ganesha in India to the falcon-headed Horus in ancient Egypt. An enigmatic cave painting representing a possibly shamanic figure with the hindparts of a man and the foreparts of a stag. As far back as we go in human history, we find therianthropes, or animal-human hybrids. In this thoughtful volume, Philip F. Palmedo surveys each of the major categories of therianthrope in turn — from animal-headed beings to merpeople to shape-shifters — with particular attention to their roles in religion, folklore, and the popular consciousness. With well-chosen colour illustrations, he demonstrates how artists of all eras have shaped our conception of these mythical beings. Palmedo closes the book by theorising about the ultimate origin and meaning of therianthropes, placing them at the nexus of our close ancestral relationship with the animal world. From Angels to Werewolves will fascinate anyone with an interest in myth, fantasy, or the human-animal bond.

An illustrated exploration of the fundamental connections between art and science, from an author who has lived in both worlds. In this thought-provoking book, Philip F. Palmedo, a former physicist who now writes on art, reveals how the two defining enterprises of humankind - art and science - are rooted in certain common instincts, which we might call aesthetic: an appreciation of symmetry, balance, and rhythm; the drive to simplify and abstract natural forms, and to represent them symbolically. Palmedo traces these instincts back to a very early time in human history - demonstrating, for example, the level of abstract thinking required to create the stone tools and cave paintings of the Paleolithic - and then forward, to the builders of the Gothic cathedrals, to Leonardo da Vinci and Isaac Newton, to Einstein and Picasso. Illustrated with more than 125 creations of the genus Homo - from a flint hand axe chipped half a million years ago to the abstractions of Hilma af Klint and the James Webb Space Telescope - Palmedo's text leaves us with a new appreciation of the instinct for beauty shared by artists and scientists alike.

Engagingly written and colorfully illustrated, The Experience of Modern Sculpture leads us to understand, and take pleasure in, the sculpture of the 20th and 21st centuries. It helps us see the different facets of modernism: the evolution of the figure, abstraction, land art, the new materials used in sculpture, and more. It shows us how modern sculpture has fascinating links to ancient art, to science, and to the world around us. Using more than 100 examples by artists ranging from Picasso and Giacometti to Oldenburg, Hesse, and Serra, the guide focuses on how these pieces of art communicate. This new approach brings fresh insights to an important area of art, and it deepens the pleasure we can get from the last hundred years of sculptural creativity.