SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: THE BIG BACKYARD
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.black-cat-studios.com/
CITY: South Boston
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 309
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born May 8, 1947, in Minneapolis, MN; son of Robert (an engineer) and Marilynn (an office manager) Miller; married Judith Toth (a model maker), July 3, 1972.
EDUCATION:Columbus College of Art and Design, B.F.A., 1970.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Artist, author, and editor. National Air & Space Museum, Washington, DC, art director for Albert Einstein Spacearium, 1972-77; Black Cat Studios, Fredericksburg, VA, owner, 1977—. Space art consultant to Starlog; co-administrator of Bonestell Space Art; created commemorative stamps for U.S. Postal Service. Film work includes production illustrator for Dune and Total Recall; conceptual artist and consultant for films, including Contact; designer and co-creator of Comet Impact! (computer-generated film); coproducer of documentary A Brush with the Future, 2018; conceptual artist for documentaries and short films. International Space University, member of faculty. Presenter at numerous international space art workshops and exhibitions; lecturer on space art throughout the world. Exhibitions: Works included in numerous public and private collections, including Smithsonian Institution and Pushkin Museum (Moscow, Russia).
MEMBER:International Academy of Astronautics, International Association for the Astronomical Arts (former trustee), North American Jules Verne Society, British Interplanetary Society (fellow).
AWARDS:Hugo Award nominations, 1981, for The Grand Tour, 1987, for Cycles of Fire, 1990, for In the Stream of Stars, 1992, for The History of Earth; Outstanding Science Trade Book citation, National Science Teachers Association/Children’s Book Council (NSTA/CBC), 1987, for Stars and Planets; Frank R. Paul Award for Outstanding Achievement in Science-Fiction Art, 1988; ForeWord magazine Silver Award, 1991, for Palaces and Prisons; New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age, 1992, for The History of Earth; American Institute of Physics Award of Excellence, for “Worlds Beyond” series; Violet Crown Award, Writer’s League of Texas, 2001, for Bradamant; Hugo Award in nonfiction category (with Frederick C. Durant III and Melvin H. Schuetz), 2002, for The Art of Chesley Bonestell; Lucien Rudaux Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in Astronomical Art, International Association of Astronomical Artists, 2003; Award of Excellence in Science Writing and Best Children’s Books selection, Bank Street College of Education, both 2005, both for Venus; NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12 designation, 2005, for The Elements; Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History, 2018; Joseph V. Canzani Alumni Award for Excellence, Columbus College of Art and Design, 2021; honorary member, Sociétè Jules Verne.
WRITINGS
Contributing editor, Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine. Contributor to anthologies, including Alien Invasions! The History of Aliens in Pop Culture, edited by Michael Stein, IDW (San Diego. CA), 2020; and Space Science and Public Engagement: 21st Century Perspectives and Opportunities, edited by Amy Paige Kaminski, Elsevier (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 2021. Contributor of illustrations to periodicals, including Astronomy and Scientific American.
SIDELIGHTS
Ron Miller worked as a commercial illustrator in advertising before refocusing on his primary area of interest: space science. A job as art director of the National Air & Space Museum’s Albert Einstein Planetarium in the early 1970s led Miller to a successful career as a freelance artist and writer. His expertise on space art, as well as on the writings of pioneering science-fiction author Jules Verne, has inspired many creative projects, among them his far-reaching compendium The Art of Space: The History of Space Art, from the Earliest Visions to the Graphics of the Modern Era. He has also worked as a production illustrator and designer, helping to produce the popular sci-fi films Dune and Total Recall. In addition to his illustration work, Miller writes and edits astronomy-and science-based nonfiction as well as fiction, drawing on the wide-ranging knowledge gained while creating his detailed art.
Published in its third edition in 2005, Miller’s The Grand Tour: A Traveler’s Guide to the Solar System was coauthored by William K. Hartmann and is enhanced by over a hundred paintings by Miller. The third edition draws on discoveries made by Voyager I and II, Magellan, Galileo, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Mars Global Surveyor Mission, and other space initiatives, providing budding astronomers with timely information on subjects about which much is unknown. He has supplemented this overview with books such as Curiosity’s Mission on Mars: Exploring the Red Planet, which chronicles the NASA rover expedition launched in 2011. Designed to glean data helpful to scientists contemplating Mars’ potential as a human habitat, Curiosity analyzed rock and soil samples, tested the planet’s atmosphere, and explored the Martian terrain for signs of water and life. In Booklist Carolyn Phelan praised Curiosity’s Mission on Mars as a “clearly written” and “succinct introduction,” while a Kirkus Reviews writer cited it as “an informative, useful look at a current and ongoing mission to explore our nearest neighbor in the solar system.”
Miller designed the books in his “Worlds Beyond” and “Space Innovations” series to inspire younger readers with the same fascinations that fueled his career. Numbering eleven volumes, his award-winning “Worlds Beyond” books pair dozens of illustrations with detailed and fact-centered texts. “Both the writing and the visuals go beyond stating the facts to help readers imagine the ideas and processes described,” noted Booklist critic Carolyn Phelan in a review of The Sun. In School Library Journal, Mary Frances Wilkins noted of series installment Extrasolar Planets that it “makes the complicated idea of the solar system approachable enough for even the most reluctant science student” and holds reader interest with its “stunning illustrations.”
Part of the “Space Innovations” series, Miller’s Satellites traces the history of the rockets and man-made satellites that play a crucial role in modern life. According to Phelan in Booklist, the author/illustrator “synthesizes his evident research into a well-organized discussion,” helping readers comprehend “the difficulty of creating a functioning satellite” while also stressing the importance of this technology in both scientific research and everyday life.
Several of Miller’s books cover interpretations of space as depicted in art, film, and popular fiction. The Dream Machines: An Illustrated History of the Spaceship in Art, Science, and Literature, for instance, is a 750-page illustrated history of the space ship, beginning with conceptual vehicles devised by the ancient Greeks through those actually in use by twenty-first-century astronauts. His The History of Science Fiction shares a “brief but competent overview” of the literary genre that explores science and the stars, according to Sally Estes in Booklist This self-illustrated overview “makes a good starting point for the novice,” the critic added.
In his “Seven Wonders” series Miller applies the human tendency to make lists and rank things, categorizing elements of space science and phenomena. Seven Wonders beyond the Solar System looks at extrasolar planets, galaxies, pulsars, and nebulae, for instance, while Seven Wonders of Space Technology explores the scientific creations that have given astronomers a better look at the universe. “Each volume makes basic concepts clear in lively, energetic language that, along with the mesmerizing color photos and artists’ renderings of space, will easily captivate a young audience,” according to Booklist contributor Gillian Engberg. Other “Seven Wonders” volumes explore Earth’s solar system and highlight Saturn’s rings, Europa’s possible liquid water, Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, and Mars’ Olympus Mons, the solar system’s largest volcano. As John Peters concluded in School Library Journal, “both newly starstruck readers and confirmed students of the heavens will find plenty to marvel over in these volumes.”
With Is the End of the World Near?, Miller explores the human attraction to apocalyptic scenarios by examining ancient predictions, such as the Mayan calendar ending in 2012, and modern depictions appearing in books and films. He also investigates possible man-made causes for humanity’s end—from atomic destruction to resource depletion to viral pandemics—as well as the unstoppable fact that Earth’s sun will go supernova several billion years in the future. The result is “an interesting text that explores different possibilities as they pertain to life and existence,” as Ria Newhouse described it in Voice of Youth Advocates. “Attractively designed and handsomely illustrated,” a Kirkus Reviews critic concluded, the “informative text” in Is the End of the World Near? “introduces teens to many intriguing angles on a high-interest topic that should inspire many to further explore the subject.”
Miller’s Recentering the Universe: The Radical Theories of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton traces the development of one of history’s most important scientific shifts. Before the sixteenth century, Earth was thought to be the center of the universe; over the course of 150 years, the four scientists profiled proved that the sun is, in fact, the core of our solar system. The author “explains concepts clearly and places each scientist’s work within the context of generally held beliefs in his society,” noted Phelan, and a Kirkus Reviews critic praised his “discussions of each scientist’s theories” as “accessible, clear and concise.” With several illustrations and diagrams to supplement the text, Recentering the Universe is “the perfect text for teens and ‘tweens looking for the history of the universe as we know it,” Shana Morales concluded in Voice of Youth Advocates.
In Chasing the Storm: Tornadoes, Meteorology, and Weather Watching Miller comes down to Earth, explaining weather extremes and “enticing youths to investigate meteorology and consider it as a career,” in the view of Voice of Youth Advocates contributor Mary Ellen Snodgrass. While focusing on the functions of weather-watching professionals, the book also provides information on making homes safe from violent weather. Highlighting his text are timely mentions of “global warming and increased carbon dioxide levels as major contributors to extreme weather,” noted Booklist contributor J.B. Petty. A Kirkus Reviews writer recommended Chasing the Storm as “a serious look at a dangerous pursuit.”
[open new]Miller again packs a world of knowledge into Natural Satellites: The Book of Moons, which catalogs everything from how the solar system’s coalescence set the stage for moon formation to what scientists have learned through precise modern instrumentation. Alongside a history of astronomy in Greek and Roman culture, Miller mentions how the moon and sun have been incorporated into indigenous and Asian mythology He draws on the likes of Newton and Galileo to give young-adult readers a primer on gravity and orbital physics, and other scientists’ work is cited as a selection of moons, including Europa, Titan, and Enceladus—which might be host to living organisms—are examined in detail.
In Booklist, Ronny Khuri marveled at the “surprising specificity” of scientists’ latest findings about moons and appreciated the author’s “concise, crystal-clear writing.” Khuri found that Miller’s framing the narrative through the lens of “what an explorer or tourist might find” makes for an “effectively accessible point of view.” Affirming that Miller does an “impressive job of offering plain-language explanations of scientific concepts,” a Kirkus Reviews writer hailed Natural Satellites as an “illuminating journey through the moons of our solar system,” complete with “exciting goals for future space exploration.”
Also written for young-adult readers is The Big Backyard: The Solar System beyond Pluto, whose purview stretches out to the asteroid-laden Kuiper Belt, the comet-spewing Oort cloud, and beyond. In addition to delving into these regions and how they compare to the inner reaches of the solar system, Miller offers discussions of recently discovered dwarf planets, waves of solar wind and cosmic dust, and rare interstellar bodies. He also explains how planetary scientists have collected their information and why most continue to view Pluto—recently demoted to dwarf-planet status—as more accurately belonging with the eight other standard planets. Booklist reviewer Kathleen McBroom affirmed that Miller’s narrative style is “engaging, occasionally alluding to science fiction works and popular conspiracy theories,” and that he comes up with “accessible examples,” like comparing crater formation to bites from a bowl of oatmeal. A Kirkus Reviews writer proclaimed that Miller offers “enough specific detail to satisfy even demanding young sky watchers” as The Big Backyard “tantalizingly introduces readers to far-flung scientific wonders.”
Miller has contributed mind-expanding illustrations to numerous other authors’ works. Caleb Scharf’s The Zoomable Universe: An Epic Tour through Cosmic Scale, from Almost Everything to Nearly Nothing helps readers imagine and visualize the grandiosity of entire galaxies, the microscopic differentials in atomic and quantum physics, and everything in between. A Kirkus Reviews writer found that “Miller’s stunning illustrations pair perfectly with Scharf’s compelling writing”; Gilbert Taylor in Booklist deemed Miller’s artwork “beautiful” and the The Zoomable Universe a “brilliant author-illustrator collaboration.”[close new]
As Miller once noted of his writing: “My main interest is in making astronomy understandable to the public, especially in making the planets in our solar system seem to be real places. I particularly enjoy playing ‘Mr. Wizard’ and making science fun for kids.” Commenting on his space artworks, he noted in a Blueshift podcast interview that “We’re really just trying to visit places that are as wonderful as Yellowstone and Yosemite through the only media by which we can really do it.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, July, 2001, Sally Estes, review of The History of Science Fiction, p. 1996; February 15, 2002, Mary Frances Wilkins, review of Extrasolar Planets, p. 1007; April 1, 2002, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Sun, p. 1322; March 15, 2006, Gillian Engberg, review of Special Effects: An Introduction to Movie Magic, p. 43; December 1, 2007, review of Satellites, p. 51; March 1, 2011, Gillian Engberg, review of “Seven Wonders” series, p. 44; November 1, 2013, Carolyn Phelan, review of Recentering the Universe: The Radical Theories of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton, p. 50; February 1, 2014, J.B. Petty, review of Chasing the Storm: Tornadoes, Meteorology, and Weather Watching, p. 51; March 15, 2014, Carolyn Phelan, review of Curiosity’s Mission on Mars: Exploring the Red Planet, p. 65; October 1, 2017, Gilbert Taylor, review of The Zoomable Universe: An Epic Tour through Cosmic Scale, from Almost Everything to Nearly Nothing, p. 10; March 1, 2021, Ronny Khuri, review of Natural Satellites: The Book of Moons, p. 37; February 15, 2023, Kathleen McBroom, review of The Big Backyard: The Solar System beyond Pluto, p. 47.
Future, November, 1978, review of Space Art.
Horn Book Guide, fall, 2014, Danielle J. Ford, review of Curiosity’s Mission on Mars, p. 174; spring, 2015, Elissa Gershowitz, review of Chasing the Storm, p. 151.
Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2011, review of Is the End of the World Near? From Crackpot Predictions to Scientific Scenarios; September 15, 2013, review of Recentering the Universe; February, 1, 2014, review of Chasing the Storm; April 1, 2014, review of Curiosity’s Mission on Mars; August 1, 2017, review of The Zoomable Universe; February 15, 2021, review of Natural Satellites; December 15, 2022, review of The Big Backyard.
Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March-April, 2016, review of The Art of Space, pp. 70-71.
School Library Journal, March, 2006, Maren Ostergard, review of The Elements: What You Really Want to Know, p. 244; June, 2006, Tim Wadham, review of Special Effects, p. 182; February, 2011, John Peters, review of Seven Wonders beyond the Solar System, p. 129.
Science Teacher, November, 2003, John Cirucci, review of Venus, pp. 88-89.
Voice of Youth Advocates, February, 2006, Jan Chapman, review of Asteroids, Comets, and Meteors, p. 518; February, 2012, Ria Newhouse, review of Is the End of the World Near?, p. 619; December, 2013, Shana Morales, review of Recentering the Universe, p. 87; June, 2014, Mary Ellen Snodgrass, review of Chasing the Storm, and Laura Lehner, review of Curiosity’s Mission on Mars, both p. 92.
ONLINE
Goddard Space Flight Center website, http://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ (May 6, 2013), transcript of Blueshift interview on “The Art of Space.”
Ron Miller website, http://www.black-cat-studios.com (June 11, 2023).
Ron Miller (artist and author)
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ron Miller
Ron Miller, space artist.jpg
Ron Miller, space artist, science fiction illustrator and author.
Born May 8, 1947 (age 76)
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Education Bachelor of Fine Arts
Occupation(s) Illustrator, writer
Spouse Judith
Children Patricia
Ron Miller (born May 8, 1947) is an illustrator and writer who lives and works in South Boston, Virginia. He now specializes in astronomical, astronautical and science fiction books for adults and young adults.
Miller was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He holds a BFA from Columbus, Ohio, College of Art and Design.[1] He worked as a commercial artist and designer for six years, before taking a position as art director for the National Air and Space Museum's Albert Einstein Planetarium.[2] He left there in 1977 to become a freelance illustrator and author; to date he has nearly sixty book titles to his credit, and his illustrations have appeared on hundreds of book jackets, book interiors and in magazines such as National Geographic, Reader's Digest, Scientific American,[3] Smithsonian, Analog, Starlog, Air & Space, Astronomy, Sky & Telescope, Science et Vie, Newsweek, Natural History, Discover, GEO and others.[4][5][6]
Miller has translated and illustrated new editions of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, From the Earth to the Moon and Journey to the Center of the Earth as well as a companion/atlas to Verne's works, Extraordinary Voyages. He has acted as a consultant on Verne for Walt Disney Imagineering (for the Paris Disneyland) and A&E Television Network's Biography series. Miller's book The Dream Machines, a comprehensive 744-page history of crewed spacecraft, was nominated for the International Astronautical Federation's Manuscript Award[7] and won the Booklist Editor's Choice Award.[8] His original paintings are in numerous private and public collections, including the Smithsonian Institution and the Pushkin Museum (Moscow).
He designed a set of ten commemorative postage stamps for the U.S. Postal Service.[9] One of the stamps in the Space Exploration series (1991), is credited with helping inspire the New Horizons mission to that planet.[10][11][12] The Pluto stamp was attached to the spacecraft before launch.[13] The stamp is now in the Guinness Book of World Records as having traveled further than any other postage stamp in history.[citation needed] He has been a production illustrator for motion pictures, notably Dune[14][15] and an unproduced version of Total Recall; and he designed and co-wrote the computer-generated show ride film, Comet Impact! for SimEx. He has provided concept and special effects art for numerous other films.[16] Most recently he was a co-producer of the documentary film, "A Brush With the Future."[17]
Miller has taken part in international space art workshops and exhibitions, including seminal sessions held in Iceland and the Soviet Union.[18] He was invited by the Soviet government to the 30th anniversary celebration of the launch of Sputnik, and has lectured on space art and space history in the United States, France, Japan, Italy and Great Britain. He was featured on Hour 25 Science Fiction Radio program in early 2003.[19]
An authority on the work of astronomical artist Chesley Bonestell, his book The Art of Chesley Bonestell received a Hugo Award in 2002.[20] A feature-length documentary based on this book, "A Brush With the Future," for which he was co-producer, won the Audience Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival and Best Documentary at the San Diego Comic Con. Other books have received awards, including a Silver Award for best fiction from ForeWord magazine for Palaces & Prisons [21] and the Violet Crown Award from the Writers' League of Texas for Bradamant.[22] His Worlds Beyond series received the American Institute of Physics Award of Excellence.[23] The Grand Tour has gone through three editions, multiple printings, several translations, was a Hugo Award nominee[24] and has sold over 250,000 copies. It was also twice a Book-of-the-Month feature selection. This and other books have been selections of the Science, Quality Paperback and Science Fiction Book Clubs. His book, Digital Art, was listed on the VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) Nonfiction Honor List in 2009.[23] In all, he has 75 works in 142 publications in 6 languages in 16,977 libraries world-wide.[25]
Miller has been on the faculty of the International Space University. He is a contributing editor for Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine;[26] a member of the International Academy of Astronautics; a member of the History Committee of the American Astronautical Society; a Life Member, Fellow and past Trustee of the International Association of Astronomical Artists; an Honorary Member of the Sociétè Jules Verne [fr] (Paris); a past member of the North American Jules Verne Society and a past Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society.
A recent project has been Black Cat Press, which Miller has devoted to publishing new editions of rare and obscure science fiction, fantasy and science fact books. Among these are new, original translations of several Jules Verne novels.
Published books
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The Space Art Poster Book (Stackpole, 1979)
Space Art (Starlog, 1979)
The Grand Tour (Workman, 1981; revised edition, 1993; revised edition, 2005) with William K. Hartmann
Worlds Beyond: The Art of Chesley Bonestell (Donning, 1983) with Frederick C. Durant, III
Out of the Cradle (Workman, 1984) with William K. Hartmann
Cycles of Fire (Workman, 1987) with William K. Hartmann
Stars and Planets (Doubleday, 1987) Illustrator
Mathematics (illustrator: Doubleday, 1989) Illustrator
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Unicorn, 1988) Illustrator and translator
In the Stream of Stars (Workman, 1990) with William K. Hartmann; foreword by Ray Bradbury
The Bronwyn Trilogy: Palaces & Prisons, Silk & Steel, Hearts & Armor (Ace, 1991–1992) Novels; rewritten and published as A Company of Heroes (Baen Books, 2014) along with the additional fourth and fifth volumes, The Scientist and The Space Cadet
The History of Earth (Workman, 1992) with William K. Hartmann
The Dream Machines (Krieger, 1993) Foreword by Arthur C. Clarke
Extraordinary Voyages (Black Cat Press, 1994) Foreword by Forrest J. Ackerman
BrainQuest (Workman, 1994)
Firebrands (Paper Tiger, 1998) Illustrator
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Dorling Kindersley, 1998) Adaptation
The History of Rockets (Grolier, 1999)
Bradamant (Timberwolf, 2000; revised edition issued as The Iron Tempest, Baen Books, 2014) Novel
The History of Science Fiction (Grolier, 2001)
The Art of Chesley Bonestell (Paper Tiger, 2001) with Frederick C. Durant, III, foreword by Arthur C. Clarke
Mermaids & Meteors (Black Cat Press, 2005) Novel
Velda (Timberwolf Press, 2003) Novel
Worlds Beyond (twelve-book series, Millbrook Press, 2002–2005): Earth & Moon; Saturn; The Sun; Mars; Venus; Uranus & Neptune; Extrasolar Planets; Mercury & Pluto; Jupiter; Asteroids, Comets & Meteors; Stars & Galaxies
Special Effects in the Movies (Millbrook Press, 2006)
The Elements (Millbrook Press, 2004)
13 Steps to Velda (Black Cat Press, 2005) Short story collection
Captain Judikah (Black Cat Press, 2005) Novel (later, as The Space Cadet, made part of the Company of Heroes series published by Baen Books)
Pathetic Selections (Black Cat Press, 2005) Editor
Space Innovations (four-book series, Lerner, 2007–2008): Rockets, Satellites, Robot Explorers, Space Exploration
Extreme Aircraft (HarperCollins, 2007)
Digital Art (Lerner, 2007)
Cleopatra (Chelsea House, 2008) with Sommer Browning; foreword by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
The Seven Wonders of Engineering (Lerner, 2009)
The Seven Wonders of the Gas Giants (Lerner, 2010)
The Seven Wonders Beyond the Solar System (Lerner, 2010)
The Seven Wonders of the Rocky Planets (Lerner, 2010)
The Seven Wonders of Comets, Asteroids and Meteors (Lerner, 2010)
Is the End of the World Near? (Lerner, 2011)
Journey to the Exoplanets (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011) iPad book app; with Edward Bell
Recentering the Universe (Lerner, 2013)
Storm Chasers (Lerner, 2013)
Exploring Mars (Lerner, 2013)
The Art of Space (Zenith, 2014), forewords by Dan Durda and Caroline Porco
Return to Skull Island (Baen Books, 2014) with Darrell Funk
Velda: Girl Detective (Caliber Comics, 2015), 3-volume comic anthology
Spaceships (Smithsonian Books, 2016), forewords by Lance Bush and Tom Crouch
The Zoomable Universe (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017), illustrator
Aliens: Past, Present, Future (Watkins Publishing, 2017), Author and illustrator[27]
Space Stations (Smithsonian Books, 2018), co-author, foreword by Nicole Stott
The Beauty of Space (Springer Nature, 2020), co-editor and contributor
Natural Satellites: The Book of Moons (Lerner, 2021)
Envisioning Exoplanets (Smithsonian, 2020), illustrator
Space Science and Public Engagement (Elsevier, 2021), contributor
Alien Invasions (IDW, 2021), contributor
The Big Backyard (Lerner, 2022)
Awards
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Lucien Rudaux Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in Astronomical Art, IAAA, 2003
Frank R. Paul Award for Outstanding Achievement in Science Fiction Art, Nashville, 1988
Award of Merit, Art Director's Club of Washington, DC, 1981
Hugo Award for Best Related Work, 2002: The Art of Chesley Bonestell
Award of Excellence in Science Writing from American Institute of Physics, 2003: Worlds Beyond series
Nominee for 1982 Hugo Award for best nonfiction for The Grand Tour
Ten Best Books of the Year, 1984—Astronomical Society of the Pacific: Out of the Cradle
Ten Best Books of the Year, 1987—Astronomical Society of the Pacific: Cycles of Fire
Outstanding Science Trade Book, National Science Teachers Assoc./Children's Book Council, 1987: Stars and Planets
New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age, 1992: The History of Earth
IAF Manuscript Award. Booklist Editor's Award, 1994: The Dream Machines
New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age, 2000: Rockets
Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year, 2005: Venus
National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) / Children's Book Council (CBC) Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12, 2005: The Elements
VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) Nonfiction Honor List, 2009: Digital Art
2001 Writer's League of Texas Violet Crown Award for best audiofiction: Bradamant
2012 SSLI (Society of School Librarians International) Book Award, Honor Book in the Science 7-12 category: Is the End of the World Near?
NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12: The Elements
Junior Library Guild Selection; nominee for Library of Virginia Literary Award for Non-Fiction: Recentering the Universe
Best Children's Books of the Year, 2015, Children’s Book Committee at the Bank Street College of Education: Curiosity's Mission on Mars
Finalist, Locus Award for Best Art Book, 2014: The Art of Space
Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History, 2018
Audience Award, Newport Beach Film Festival, for "A Brush With the Future" (co-producer) 2018
Best Documentary, San Diego Comic Con, for "A Brush With the Future" (co-producer) 2018
Best Documentary, Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival, for "A Brush With the Future (co-producer) 2019
Longlist for the 2019 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books, "Zoomable Universe"
2021 Joseph V. Canzani Alumni Award for Excellence (Columbus College of Art and Design)
No bio
The Big Backyard: The Solar System beyond Pluto. By Ron Miller. Mar. 2023. i04p. illus. Lerner/Twenty-First Century, lib. ed., $37.32 (9781728475349). Gr. 7-10. 523.49.
Many books about our solar system begin with the sun and work their way progressively outward, culminating with one final chapter on what may be lurking out there in the cosmos beyond Pluto. This engaging offering is dedicated to that previously mysterious space and offers current updates (through 2022) on new astronomical discoveries. The first few chapters do review the more familiar parts of the solar system but only through the guise of how these inner planets compare with the Kuiper Belt's far-flung moons, comets, and asteroids (and whatever lies beyond). The text is engaging, occasionally alluding to science fiction works and popular conspiracy theories, and uses accessible examples, like comparing Pluto's craters to small bites out of a bowl of oatmeal. Pages are filled with full-color photos and eye-catching illustrations (the author's artwork appears regularly in Scientific American and Astronomy), plus charts, diagrams, maps, and sidebars. Back matter includes a glossary, source notes, a bibliography, and resources for further exploration. This inviting offering will be welcomed by student researchers and space nerds alike.--Kathleen McBroom
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
McBroom, Kathleen. "The Big Backyard: The Solar System beyond Pluto." Booklist, vol. 119, no. 12, 15 Feb. 2023, p. 47. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A738954377/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4c78298a. Accessed 19 May 2023.
Miller, Ron THE BIG BACKYARD Twenty-First Century/Lerner (Teen None) $37.32 3, 7 ISBN: 978-1-72847-534-9
A rare look at our astronomical neighborhood's outermost reaches.
Even top-tier solar system tours seldom devote more than glances beyond the known planets to the outlying Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud. But as Miller reports in enough specific detail to satisfy even demanding young sky watchers, recent observations have revealed quite a lot going on out there--from new dwarf planets and excitingly strange interstellar visitors like 'Oumuamua to immense swirling waves caused by interactions between solar winds and cosmic dust. The author threads in recaps of the solar system's formation and the history of our search for the outer planets (persuasively explaining the position of most planetary scientists that Pluto is a regular, not a dwarf, planet) and closes with annotated lists of helpful print and web resources to launch further investigations. All of this he enhances with a mix of astrophotos and his own schematic diagrams of orbits and magnetic fields as well as photorealistic depictions of space probes, comets, and relevant celestial phenomena. There are no human figures in view, but all of the dwarf planets found to date line up for (as it were) star turns. This inviting work is perspective adjusting, particularly for readers who haven't imagined much beyond a star, a handful of planets, and a few extra rocks.
Tantalizingly introduces readers to far-flung scientific wonders. (glossary, source notes, bibliography, index, photo credits) (Nonfiction. 12-18)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Miller, Ron: THE BIG BACKYARD." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Dec. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A729727454/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a85d608a. Accessed 19 May 2023.
Natural Satellites: The Book of Moons. By Ron Miller. Apr. 2021.104p. illus. Lerner/Twenty-First Century, lib. ed., $37.3219781728419435): e book (9781728419442). Gr. 8-12.523.9.
We humans have been aware of our moon for millennia, but it hasn't been until recently that we've been able to observe up close not just it but the thousands of others in our solar system. While laying a scientific foundation through brief asides on the likes of Newton and Galileo, Miller utilizes research from as recently as 2020 as he takes readers through time and space, detailing "The Birth of the Solar System" (chapter one) and going on to describe how moons form, their different features, and most fundamental questions a budding astronomer might have. The focus is on a handful of the most famous examples--Europa, Titan, Enceladus, etc.--with nine chapters covering the different conditions on each one in surprising specificity. Miller often frames the information as what an explorer or tourist might find in these far-flung places, an effectively accessible point of view. The concise, crystal-clear writing is supplemented by photography, photorealistic illustrations, and diagrams, along with rich back matter, making this an excellent resource for teen selenophiles.--Ronny Khuri
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 American Library Association
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Khuri, Ronny. "Natural Satellites: The Book of Moons." Booklist, vol. 117, no. 13, 1 Mar. 2021, p. 37. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A655229082/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=7c26d038. Accessed 19 May 2023.
ler, Ron NATURAL SATELLITES Twenty-First Century/Lerner (Teen None) $37.32 4, 6 ISBN: 978-1-72841-943-5
Just as our moon became more than a rock once humans landed on it, other moons have emerged as worlds of their own in data from probes like Voyager.
Full-color illustrations, photographs, and helpful diagrams tell their stories and emphasize their importance. Europa, Enceladus, and Titan—moons of Jupiter and Saturn—might even host life. Readers need a solid understanding of how gravity works, especially beyond Earth. Though the book’s purpose is (rightfully) not to teach orbital mechanics, it does an impressive job of offering plain-language explanations of scientific concepts, particularly Newton’s laws and methods for finding exomoons. Comparisons to the size of the moon in the Earth’s sky make it easy to picture what other moons must look like from other planets. Galileo and Newton receive top billing, and most other scientists mentioned are male and either European or American; one European and two American female scientists appear. Historical discussions of astronomy mention ancient Greeks and Romans but omit ancient Islamic or other non-Western astronomers, instead describing ancient Asian and Indigenous peoples in the context of sun and moon deities and folklore. References to past and future missions like Cassini-Huygens and the Enceladus Explorer connect facts to the scientific methods used to discover them and present exciting goals for future space exploration.
An illuminating journey through the moons of our solar system, presenting goals for future space exploration. (glossary, source notes, selected bibliography, further information, index) (Nonfiction. 12-18)
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"Miller, Ron: NATURAL SATELLITES." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Feb. 2021. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A651594636/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=7012994a. Accessed 19 May 2023.
The Zoomable Universe: An Epic Tour through Cosmic Scale, from Almost Everything to Nearly Nothing. By Caleb Scharf. Oct. 2017. 224p. illus. Farrar/Scieotific American, $27 (97803749025991.523.1.
Exponents frame this illustrated tour from the largest astrophysical structure--the observable universe--to the smallest scientifically meaningful size--the Planck length. Descending by orders of magnitude of 10, Scharf begins with the diameter of the universe, helping readers visualize this huge number in conjunction with artist Ron Miller's image of a sphere containing filaments, which, when the focus descends down a few orders of 10, is revealed to be clusters of galaxies. In this manner, Scharf's inquisitive text, allied with Miller's beautiful illustrations, conveys fundamental physics and astronomy. Upon zooming down to Earth and its ever-evolving cargo of life, they delve into life's operating code, DNA. Proceeding to atomic scales, Scharf observes (and Miller visualizes) how empty an atom is, as empty as intergalactic space. Scharf acquaints readers with a physical reality that exists at all scales of 10 but becomes most apparent at the quantum-mechanics level. This brilliant author-illustrator collaboration is a worthy, must-have successor to the title that inspired it, the classic Powers of Ten (1990), by Philip Morrison and Phylis Morrison.--Gilbert Taylor
YA/C: Science-entranced YAs and those for whom art will provide a welcome portal into science will all delight in this elucidating volume. GT.
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Taylor, Gilbert. "The Zoomable Universe: An Epic Tour through Cosmic Scale, from Almost Everything to Nearly Nothing." Booklist, vol. 114, no. 3, 1 Oct. 2017, p. 10. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A510653676/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=963c7df4. Accessed 19 May 2023.
Scharf, Caleb THE ZOOMABLE UNIVERSE Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Adult Nonfiction) $27.00 10, 17 ISBN: 978-0-374-71571-7
A beautifully illustrated survey of the universe and its constituent parts, from quarks to galaxies and beyond.Billions of years ago, exploding stars and other events expelled atoms that became the building blocks of the universe as we know it. Today, these ancient atoms form everything on Earth, including our bodies. Scharf (The Copernicus Complex: Our Cosmic Significance in a Universe of Planets and Possibilities, 2014, etc.), the director of the Columbia Astrobiology Center, and Miller (Spaceships: An Illustrated History of the Real and the Imagined, 2016, etc.), a Hugo Award-winning illustrator and former art director of the National Air and Space Museum's Albert Einstein Planetarium, take readers on a spectacular journey, starting in the farthest reaches of the universe and ending in the deepest depths of the atom. Using the power of 10 to incrementally scale down, each chapter explains the physics powering the many systems that work together to form the universe. Miller's stunning illustrations pair perfectly with Scharf's compelling writing, which introduces complex ideas using everyday language and lucid metaphors. Complementary infographics are fun to read and help put massive numbers in perspective--e.g., consider that our solar system is a tiny speck in the Milky Way galaxy, which is just one of hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe. Though they make sure that every page is accessible to nonscientists, Scharf and Miller don't skimp on the science, providing plenty of depth in their discussions of general relativity, the composition of planets, the bizarre behavior of particles in the quantum realm, and everything in between. The clever sequence of chapters makes the book enjoyable when read from start to finish, but each chapter tells its own story, and many chapters have two-page illustrations that are discrete tools as entertaining as they are educational. A superb composite of scientific knowledge that will no doubt inspire readers of all ages to learn more about our enigmatic universe.
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"Scharf, Caleb: THE ZOOMABLE UNIVERSE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2017. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A499572572/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=2e58f159. Accessed 19 May 2023.