Coccolithophores for exhibition: A note

When we work with coccolithophores, we sometimes overlook their beauty, strangeness and visual impact. However, recently their visual qualities were amply confirmed, after one of us (MG) spent an afternoon false-colouring an SEM image for a science photography competition: the resultant image won First Prize in the "Science Close Up" category of the Novartis/Daily Telegraph Visions of Science competition. Further information about the competition, and this winning image, can be viewed at www.visions-of-science.co.uk. Through this medium, non-scientists got their first vision of the beauty of these minute works of art.