2002 Gallery

Three Graces, Liverpool AA029396

PIER HEAD, Liverpool, Merseyside. General view of the Three Graces, Liverpool, taken from Birkenhead across the River Mersey. The "Three Graces" (left to right) are the Royal Liver Building (completed in 1911 with two clock towers crowned by mythical Liver Birds), the Cunard Building (completed in 1916) and the Port of Liverpool Building (completed in 1907)

© Historic England Archive

Coloured Engraving of a dodo

Engraving of a dodo, an extinct, flightless bird, related to the pigeon. The size of a swan, it was heavily-built and clumsy. Two species were known with certainty: the common dodo Raphus cucullatus from Mauritius, which became extinct between 1665 and 1670, and the Rodriguez solitaire Pezophaps solitaria from the neighbouring island of Rodriguez, which died out around 1761. The dodo's numbers quickly dwindled following the arrival of humans to these isolated habitats. All but defenceless, they were ill-equipped to cope with the new hunters & the competition from other introduced species. Copper engraving from Historia Naturalis Brasiliae, W. Piso & G. Marcgrave, 1658

© DR JEREMY BURGESS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Volcanologist by Mount Etna eruption

Volcanologist wearing a heat suit as he watches an eruption of glowing lava (molten rock), ash and vapours from the volcano Mount Etna. The lava can range in temperature from 475 degrees Celsius (dim red) to 1150 degrees Celsius (white). The suit is designed to protect the researcher from this heat. Other dangers on the slopes of a volcano include poisonous gases, like hydrogen sulphide, and lava bombs, chunks of molten rock ejected by the volcano. Mount Etna stands 3323 metres tall on the Italian island of Sicily. It is the largest active volcano in Europe. Photographed in 2000

© Jeremy Bishop/Science Photo Library