Photographer Berenice Abbott (July 17, 1898–December 9, 1991) might be best-remembered for her striking black-and-white prints of New York’s changing face in the 1930s, but she was also intensely interested in science and in making the abstract elegance and beauty of science visible and concrete. In 1939, she began experimenting with scientific imagery and capturing the whimsy of physics, mathematics and chemistry in her minimalist yet dramatic black-and-white photos. Documenting Science (public library) collects the best of that work, which culminated with the Physical Science Study Project at MIT in 1958.

Documenting Science is part Mathematical Impressions, part Bee, part something entirely and timelessly original. The MIT Museum is currently showing an exhibition of Abbot’s scientific imagery, running through the end of the year.