Biology Professor Dr. Tim van Opijnen Publishes Book

Dr. Tim van Opijnen published his 4th popular-science book (in Dutch) in November. This book, with a title that translates into “This is the most beautiful thing ever”, is the third in an annual series Dr. van Opijnen started together with a colleague in 2013. Each year they find an influential person to help them develop a question that they then put forward to 100 scientists, entrepreneurs, writers and artists. For this year’s edition they found the world famous designer duo Viktor&Rolf willing to help them formulate the question: ”What is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?”

But what is beauty? After all, what is beautiful for one person may be trivial for another. With such a question you cannot expect anything less than a book with extremely diverse and often surprising essays. For instance, the former commander in chief of the Royal Dutch Army writes in moving poetic style about camaraderie amongst his troops, while a famous Dutch novelist writes about a black and white photo from Sebastião Salgado and the rawness of life it depicts, and how that can still be immensely beautiful. Dr. van Opijnen had a long interview on national TV and received raving reviews in the biggest national Newspaper deVolkskrant. The book will no doubt become a bestseller, and is possibly a great reason for you to brush up on your Dutch.