Nanocosmos: Art, Frontiers, and the Microcosm Through Scanning Electron Microscopy

Michael Benson’s Nanocosmos uses a scanning electron microscope to turn ultra-small worlds into landscape-like images. The book spans radiolarians, diatoms, and dinoflagellates, as well as lunar glass and tiny insect-plant mosaics, each built from hundreds of micro scans. Benson treats imaging as both art and science, arguing that frontiers exist where knowledge meets mystery. He discusses the SEM’s discipline-driven imaging process, the aesthetic goals of his mosaics, and the way these images invite viewers to rethink scale, nature, and our place in the universe. The conversation also traces the history of microscopy and the persistent tension between scientific exactitude and artistic wonder.

Overview

In Nanocosmos, Michael Benson turns microscopic worlds into landscapes using a scanning electron microscope. The book assembles hundreds of high-midelity frames into mosaics that read like topographies, from the glassy edges of radiolarians to lunar impact glass that resembles rugged terrain. Benson frames this project as a frontier operation—a space where the known and unknown meet and where images carry both empirical weight and aesthetic force.

From Micro to Macro: The Creative Tool

The scanning electron microscope is a room-sized instrument that images surfaces at extreme magnifications with electrons rather than light. Benson emphasizes that while the tool is a scientific instrument, his use of it is artistic as much as investigative. He treats SEM work as a method for exploring phenomenal reality, not just collecting data. He explains that imaging is a learned craft, requiring preparation, patience, and an openness to the unexpected discoveries that emerge when you push the scale to the submillimeter.

"Art has a freer hand than science, it does not have to justify itself and prove things, it is about sublimity and evoking wonder" - Michael Benson

Lunar and Ocean Frontiers

Among the images are lunar materials such as impact glass, which Benson describes as a geologically ravaged landscape formed by millions of years of space exposure. He connects these lunar textures to Earthly terrains, drawing parallels that make lunar science feel tangible and almost navigable. The radiolarians and diatoms, though single-celled, reveal astonishing architectural complexity thanks to their silica shells and micro-scale architectures. Benson highlights how optical images and SEM textures illuminate the extraordinary beauty of life’s most fundamental units, challenging common assumptions about scale, order, and function.

Frontier Thinking and Aesthetic Discovery

The artist reflects on the frontier as a space where what we know collides with what we don’t know. This frame anchors his portraits of tiny beings, micro-mosaics, and landscape-like structures in nature. He cites Buckminster Fuller’s sense of space and wonder to argue that frontier work—scientific or artistic—serves as a conduit for awe and curiosity rather than cynicism. The discussion also traces how art and science can amplify each other, allowing audiences to experience the invisible in a direct, emotionally resonant way.

"I am fascinated by frontiers" - Michael Benson

Craft, Context, and Cultural Lineage

Nanocosmos also engages with the history of image-making, microscopy, and the long-running dialogue between science and art. Benson describes mosaic imaging as a carefully choreographed process that blends rigorous technique with an artist’s eye for composition, mood, and narrative. He even notes the Dutch still life tradition as an influence when he stages micro worlds in highly arranged, life-in-miniature scenes. The result is a book that invites viewers to reconsider how we perceive life, matter, and the cosmos across scales from microns to moons.

"I consciously wanted to make landscapes, lunar landscapes on Earth" - Michael Benson

Conclusion: Wonder, Scale, and the Human Place in Nature

The conversation closes on a reflective note: even as algorithms and digital media reshape how we see, Benson’s work seeks to restore a sense of wonder and a sense of responsibility to the natural world. Nanocosmos models a way of looking that acknowledges complexity, beauty, and mystery, while remaining grounded in the methods that illuminate it. By turning the unseen into visible, Benson invites viewers to experience science not only as fact, but as a source of inspiration and connection to the larger tapestry of life and the universe.