This vugraph presentation will attempt to convey the aesthetic beauty of scientific images and illustrate how they can be used as mandalas for the sacred. The mandala is a symbol of the cosmos. These can be inscribed inside a sphere and therefore regarded as approximations to its perfect symmetry. At the beginning of the 17 th century, Kepler adopted this system, because he could place the 5 regular solids as spacers between the orbits of the six known planets. The fit matched the known radii of the plants with such perfection that Kepler was convinced that it was divinely planned.
Images can inspire creativity.
He and his associate, Bednorz, won the 1987 Nobel Prize. The Dharmaraja Mandala is highly symmetrical visual symbol of the universe used in Hinduism and Buddhism as a guide to meditation. This motivated Mueller and Bednorz to investigate the highly-symmetrical microscopic crystal structures which were essential to their discovery. Scientific insight and religious revelation are both creative experiences. The aesthetic beauty of the images of modern cosmology can hopefully give birth to a new sacred story.