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Public gallery of animations, divided into ten categories dealing with various topics in biology, chemistry, Earth science, and statistics

"Though it may not get the attention that, say, the pyramids of Egypt or the Empire State Building get, the Hoover Dam is one of the unheralded wonders of the modern world, a massive edifice of over 3.25 million cubic yards of concrete and 582 miles of cooling pipes that provides the West with 4.2 billion kilowatts of energy a year. The monetary cost was nearly 50 million in Depression-era dollars for a project of unprecedented size in the U.S., but the human cost was more dear -- at least 112 people died building the dam. July 7, 2010 marked the 79th anniversary of the start of the project, a huge chapter in the taming of the American West"

"As the seventh anniversary of the United States' 2003 invasion of Iraq approaches-and as American and NATO forces gear up for a major push into a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan-LIFE asked five outstanding photographers who have covered both wars to reflect on the conflicts, and on their own work. Collectively, these four men and one woman have taken tens of thousands of photographs from the two wars; here, they've each chosen a handful of images that, for reasons as varied as their utterly distinct styles, resonate most deeply with them. The pictures that follow, and the photographers' words that accompany them, comprise a chronicle of courage, folly, misery, hubris-in short, a look at humans at their best, their worst, their most guarded, and their most vulnerable. WARNING: Some of the images depict extreme violence."

"President Franklin Delano Roosevelt wasn't the first to call America-and Detroit, specifically-"The Arsenal of Democracy," but he popularized the phrase during his famous "fireside chats." And for once, political rhetoric didn't outstrip reality: During the 1940s, Detroit's factories went from manufacturing cars to building tanks, bombers, army trucks, ordnance-in short, arming U.S. forces for battle in World War II."

"Simplicity Can Seem Complex Memorable pictures are made using time-tested techniques, methods -- and, yes, even tricks. To help photographers of all stripes up their game, LIFE.com is launching a series of "lessons" on photography, focusing on elemental aspects of picture-taking. One of those aspects, of course, is the critical consideration of lighting. LIFE.com asked professional photographer Tyler Stalman to offer insights on effective lighting, use of shadows, shooting at night, etc. Of this stunning Andreas Feininger picture of a young Dennis Stock (a formidable photographer in his own right) holding camera in front of his face, Stalman says, "The main lesson here is that a smart, accomplished photographer can manipulate light and shadow so the viewer is not immediately aware of what's going on -- while knowing that the image itself is somehow powerful. I admit, I went for years without realizing that it was simply lighting at work in this picture, creating an amazing 'shape' within the image, rather than the subject wearing gloves, or a sort of cowl on his head. So sometimes a really simple technique -- like this tight circle of bright light on a face -- really goes a long way.""

"Find Natural Frames Memorable pictures are made using time-tested techniques, methods -- and, yes, even tricks. To help photographers of all stripes up their game, LIFE.com is launching a series of "lessons" on photography, focusing on elemental aspects of picture-taking. One of those aspects, for instance, is composition, or how a picture is framed, and how that frame is filled. LIFE.com asked professional photographer Tyler Stalman to offer insights on effective composition. "I love this photograph," Stalman says of Ralph Morse's shot taken on a naval ship in 1942 for LIFE. "Keep an eye out for natural frames for your subjects. Here, even if the doorway or hatch had not been there, it would have been a nice photo. But the framing adds an extra level of drama: You get a kind of voyeuristic look through the door, which is heightened because the guy is not looking at the camera, as if he's unaware of it.""

"Look for New Environments, Mix People Up Memorable pictures are made using time-tested techniques, methods -- and, yes, even tricks. To help photographers of all stripes up their game, LIFE.com is launching a series of "lessons" on photography, focusing on elemental aspects of picture-taking. Among those: portraiture, or how to take pictures of people that really feel alive. LIFE.com asked professional photographer Tyler Stalman to offer insights on taking great portraits. Of this classic LIFE photograph by John Loengard of the Beatles in a pool in Miami, Stalman says: "Most people, when taking group shots, want to line everybody up -- even putting them in rows -- but when you have a bunch of people it's great to put them in a new or unexpected environment. Like this Loengard photo: you get all this extra depth in the picture, and there's so much going on at once. Don't be afraid to shuffle people around when you're doing a group shot.""