Signature series
Geological Timescale - Recursive
Earth sciences · Geological time · 4.5 Ga
- Original infographic and mathematical visualisations by Simon Tyler
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Earth is 4.5 billion years old. Complex animals have existed for less than 600 million of those years. The Cambrian explosion, the age of dinosaurs, the entire human story - they all happen in the last sliver of the outer edge.
About this print
About this print
Earth is about 4.5 billion years old, and almost nothing recognisable happens for the first four of them. That is the problem with drawing geological time to scale: the interesting part is a sliver at the end, and the sliver contains everything anyone has ever heard of.
This print solves it recursively. Each successive panel magnifies the tail of the one before, so the eye can move from the formation of the planet down to the Holocene without the recent losing all of its detail or the ancient losing all of its length. The Precambrian occupies almost 90 per cent of Earth's history and can still be shown alongside the 66 million years since the dinosaurs.
What the arrangement exposes is how compressed the familiar is. Complex animals appear only in the last 600 million years. The whole age of the dinosaurs takes up less room than the emptiness preceding it. Written human history does not register at any scale on which the Cambrian is visible.
Part of the Signature series of scientific illustration prints.
The Signature series
The Signature series
Signature is a collection of mathematical, scientific and infographic visualisations - prime number distributions, evolutionary trees, geological timescales, and other structures that become something unexpected when rendered at print scale.
Each piece begins as a data-driven computational process and is developed into a finished artwork through a combination of custom code and design refinement. The aim is not to illustrate mathematics but to make the underlying structures visible - to find the image that was always inside the data.
The series draws on fields including number theory, evolutionary biology, palaeontology, topology, and information design.
Paper and printing
Paper and printing
All prints are produced to order on 250gsm archival matte paper using pigment-based inks, chosen for colour accuracy and long-term stability.
Each print is rolled in acid-free tissue and shipped in a rigid cardboard tube, sealed for moisture protection, ready for framing on arrival.
Dimensions
Dimensions
Large · 70 × 50 cm · 28 × 20 in
XLarge · 100 × 70 cm · 40 × 28 in
Delivery
Delivery
UK: Free · 3-5 working days
Europe: €8.50 · 3-7 working days · No customs charges
USA & Canada: $8.95 / $12.00 CAD · 5-10 working days
Australia: $14.00 AUD · 5-10 working days
Rest of World: £14.95 · 7-14 working days
All prints are produced to order and dispatched within 1-3 working days. Orders placed before 5pm GMT ship the same day. You'll receive tracking information by email once dispatched.
Orders outside Europe may be subject to local customs charges on delivery - these are the responsibility of the recipient.
Returns
Returns
Returns accepted within 30 days. Email returns@axisophy.com with your order number and we'll provide return instructions.
Return postage is the customer's responsibility except where the print arrives damaged or there's been an error - in which case we'll arrange a replacement or refund immediately, no return needed.