Stephen Biesty
Author of Stephen Biesty's Incredible Cross Sections
About the Author
Image credit: Uncredited photo at bl.uk
Series
Works by Stephen Biesty
Exploring Space: From Galileo to the Mars Rover and Beyond (2017) — Illustrator — 70 copies, 3 reviews
Stephen Biesty's Absolutely Best Cross Section Book Ever (Stephen Biesty's Cross-sections) (1999) 36 copies, 1 review
Stephen Biesty's Ancient World PB: Rome, Egypt and Greece in spectacular cross-section (2008) 36 copies
Cross Sections Castle 2 copies
Associated Works
The Story of Buildings: From the Pyramids to the Sydney Opera House and Beyond (2014) — Illustrator — 250 copies, 3 reviews
Into the Unknown: How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air (2011) — Illustrator — 241 copies, 6 reviews
Stephen Biesty's Incredible Explosions: Exploded Views of Astonishing Things (1996) — Illustrator — 237 copies
Stephen Biesty's Incredible Cross Sections of Everything (Stephen Biesty Cross Sections) (2020) — Illustrator — 46 copies
Stephen Biesty's More Incredible Cross-sections (Stephen Biesty Cross Sections) (2019) — Illustrator — 46 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1961-01-27
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- illustrator
artist
web designer
filmmaker - Short biography
- Stephen Biesty is a world-renowned British illustrator. He made his name in the 1990s for his best-selling Incredible Cross-Section books published by Dorling Kindersley, which have topped global sales of 3.5 million and have been printed in 16 languages. He has won several prestigious prizes, including the New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award in 1993, and the UK Literary Association Children's Book Award in 2004. Stephen has created illustrations for high-profile architectural projects, such as the Millennium Dome in 1999 and the redevelopment of the Royal Opera House in 2000. He has also worked on digital media projects such as an animated film for an exhibition at Tower Bridge in 2009, and a website for the USS Constitution Museum in Boston in 2010 to celebrate the bicentennial of this famous American warship.
- Map Location
- UK
Members
Reviews
A very good introduction to the exploration of space by humans and robots, with detailed hand-drawn illustrations that remind me of my favorite David Macaulay books. It begins, as my own journey into space did, with Voyager's grand tour of the outer solar system, then steps back into time to the start of recorded astronomy in China. Throughout the book, Exploring Space gives all space-exploring and star-watching countries their due, with appropriate attention to the contributions of the show more U.S., Russia, Europe, China, Chile, and Japan. I was particularly pleased to see beautiful drawings of spacecraft like Magellan, Venera, Lunokhod, and Huygens, which are almost never mentioned in children's space books. The text comes back to Earth to talk about Earth-orbiting satellites before asking "Where do we go from here?" show less
Readers of all ages will spend hours lost in enchantment perusing these detailed cutaway images of the insides of a castle, observatory, galleon ship, ocean liner, submarine, coal mine, tank, oil rig, cathedral, jumbo jet, car factory, helicopter, opera house, steam train, subway station, fishing trawler, the Empire State Building, and a space shuttle.
Illustrator Stephen Biesty, along with writer Richard Platt, have created a number of such books featuring historical and architectural show more cross-section drawings, some of which fill colorful oversize double spreads (such as, in this book, the ocean liner and the steam train). The pictures are surrounded by captions that explain both what you are seeing and what you are not seeing.
For example, in the cutaway of a 16th century Spanish galleon, you see and learn briefly about the parts of the galleon, such as swivel guns, the helm, and even poisonous scorpions in the hold. But you also learn about what you can’t actually see, such as: “A terrible smell: Sea water that seeped into the ship collected in the bilge - the space between the old and the keel - and turned into a foul brew. This pump [pointed to in the drawing] cleared the bilges, but the smell of the water was disgusting.”
Similarly, in the cross-section of a World War II German submarine, you see a picture of hanging meat, and you read, “The wurst of it: Because of the lack of space, smoked meat, bread, and other supplies were stored anywhere there was room - in the crew’s quarters, or even in the toilet!”
Each intricate drawing contains a wealth of historical information both from the images and the text on the buildings, machines, and people who used them, along with “key facts,” anecdotes, and minutia that people often wonder about but aren’t often part of the usual descriptions, such as: What did people eat? How did they go to the bathroom? What was daily life like?
Evaluation: This entrancing book will keep you busy for hours, and send you searching for Biesty’s other cutaway books. There is even one on the Star Wars vehicles, and one with pop-up cross-sections. You will want to see them all! show less
Illustrator Stephen Biesty, along with writer Richard Platt, have created a number of such books featuring historical and architectural show more cross-section drawings, some of which fill colorful oversize double spreads (such as, in this book, the ocean liner and the steam train). The pictures are surrounded by captions that explain both what you are seeing and what you are not seeing.
For example, in the cutaway of a 16th century Spanish galleon, you see and learn briefly about the parts of the galleon, such as swivel guns, the helm, and even poisonous scorpions in the hold. But you also learn about what you can’t actually see, such as: “A terrible smell: Sea water that seeped into the ship collected in the bilge - the space between the old and the keel - and turned into a foul brew. This pump [pointed to in the drawing] cleared the bilges, but the smell of the water was disgusting.”
Similarly, in the cross-section of a World War II German submarine, you see a picture of hanging meat, and you read, “The wurst of it: Because of the lack of space, smoked meat, bread, and other supplies were stored anywhere there was room - in the crew’s quarters, or even in the toilet!”
Each intricate drawing contains a wealth of historical information both from the images and the text on the buildings, machines, and people who used them, along with “key facts,” anecdotes, and minutia that people often wonder about but aren’t often part of the usual descriptions, such as: What did people eat? How did they go to the bathroom? What was daily life like?
Evaluation: This entrancing book will keep you busy for hours, and send you searching for Biesty’s other cutaway books. There is even one on the Star Wars vehicles, and one with pop-up cross-sections. You will want to see them all! show less
I was so very obsessed with this book as a kid. Oddly, one of the parts I remember most vividly was checking out what all the little people were doing. And the soldier whose intestines were hanging out in the tank cross section, of course. Biesty really knows how to appeal to kids.
I'd love to reread this as an adult.
I'd love to reread this as an adult.
This collaboration between the two authors works wonderfully. Stephen Biesty's illustrations are always excellent, but in this book they and the text complement each other wonderfully. I've read so many books about space that use stock photos; these illustrations are exceptionally valuable within this genre because of their originality and fresh subject matter.
The book begins with historical observatories and ends with what was the current speculation in 2017: space elevators and permanent show more extraterrestrial bases. Stephen Biesty had begun to work in a slightly different style; but his illustrations are, as ever, clear, detailed, and well-researched. show less
The book begins with historical observatories and ends with what was the current speculation in 2017: space elevators and permanent show more extraterrestrial bases. Stephen Biesty had begun to work in a slightly different style; but his illustrations are, as ever, clear, detailed, and well-researched. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 34
- Also by
- 11
- Members
- 1,401
- Popularity
- #18,325
- Rating
- 4.1
- Reviews
- 13
- ISBNs
- 67
- Languages
- 13
- Favorited
- 1