Van Gogh Painted Fluid Turbulence Before It Was a Thing

In 2004, the Hubble Space Telescope captured an image of swirling eddies that reminded people of Vincent van Gogh’s “The Starry Night.” A nice observation – but it didn’t stop there. By analyzing pixel brightness, scientists discovered that Van Gogh had accurately depicted fluid turbulence, which wouldn’t be described mathematically until half a century later. What do Bowdoin’s Digital and Computational Studies faculty have to say about this? Find out here.