Did you know that 2011 is the International Year of Chemistry? Okay, maybe YOU knew. I didn’t. Kinda slipped right past me there. The IYC is designed, according to the official description, to “increase the public appreciation of chemistry in meeting world needs, to encourage interest in chemistry among young people, and to generate enthusiasm for the creative future of chemistry.” I can appreciate that, even though I was brought to my knees by second-semester college freshman year organic chemistry, which ended any hope of a future in a lab coat for me. The celebration also ties into the 100th anniversary of Madame Curie’s Nobel Prize and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the International Association of Chemical Societies.

And now, for the art of chemistry: Graphic designer and illustrator Simon C. Page has created a series of posters that celebrate some of chemistry’s most important figures and their contributions, and they are just amazing. Each poster is a graphic representation of a particular discovery or achievement and the chemists behind them, from Einstein’s confirmation of the atomic theory of matter to Mendeleev’s creation of the periodic table of elements. Here’s a poster of graphene:

And our friend, the atom, and Ernest Rutherford’s work:

One more, on Avogadro and ions:

There are a lot more.  And, yes, you can buy these. They run $ 20 to $ 80 depending on size. Go here and see ‘em all.

Nerdist