Ron Miller (artist and author)
Encyclopedia
Ron Miller is an artist and author who lives and works in South Boston, Virginia
in the United States
. His current work is primarily the writing and illustration of books specializing in astronomical, astronautical
and science fiction
subjects for young adults.
Miller holds a BFA
from Columbus, Ohio
, College of Art and Design. He worked as a commercial artist and designer for six years, before taking a position as art director for the National Air & Space Museum's Albert Einstein Planetarium. He left there in 1977 to became a freelance illustrator and author; to date he has more than forty book titles to his credit, and his illustrations have appeared on scores of book jackets, book interiors and in magazines such as National Geographic, Reader's Digest
, Scientific American
, Smithsonian
, Analog
, Starlog
, Air & Space, Sky & Telescope, Science et Vie, Newsweek
, Natural History
, Discover
, GEO
and others.
Miller has translated and illustrated new editions of Jules Verne
's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, From the Earth to the Moon and Journey to the Center of the Earth as well as a companion/atlas to Verne's works, Extraordinary Voyages. He has acted as a consultant on Verne for Walt Disney Imagineering
(for the Paris Disneyland) and A&E Television Network's
Biography
series. Miller's book The Dream Machines, a comprehensive 744-page history of manned spacecraft, was nominated for the International Astronautical Federation
's Manuscript Award and won the Booklist Editor's Choice Award. His original paintings are in numerous private and public collections, including the Smithsonian Institution
and the Pushkin Museum
(Moscow).
He designed a set of ten commemorative postage stamp
s for the U.S. Postal Service. One of the stamps in the Space Exploration series (1991), is credited with helping inspire the New Horizons mission to that planet. The Pluto stamp was attached to the spacecraft before launch. He has been a production illustrator for motion pictures, notably Dune
and an unproduced version of Total Recall
; and he designed and co-wrote the computer-generated show ride film, Comet Impact! for SimEx. He has provided concept and special effects art for numerous other films.
Miller has taken part in international space art workshops and exhibitions, including seminal sessions held in Iceland
and the Soviet Union
. He was invited by the Soviet government to the 30th anniversary celebration of the launch of Sputnik, and has lectured on space art and space history in the U.S., France
, Japan
, Italy
and Great Britain
. He was featured on Hour 25
Science Fiction Radio program in early 2003.
An authority on the work of astronomical artist Chesley Bonestell
, his book The Art of Chesley Bonestell received a Hugo Award
in 2002; other books have received awards, including a Silver Award for best fiction from ForeWord magazine for Palaces & Prisons and the Violet Crown Award from the Writers' League of Texas
for Bradamant. His Worlds Beyond series received the American Institute of Physics
Award of Excellence. The Grand Tour has gone through three editions, multiple printings, several translations, was a Hugo Award nominee and has sold over 250,000 copies. It was also twice a Book-of-the-Month feature selection. This and other books have been selections of the Science, Quality Paperback and Science Fiction Book Clubs. His book, Digital Art, was listed on the VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) Nonfiction Honor List in 2009. In all, he has 75 works in 142 publications in 6 languages in 16,977 libraries world-wide.
Miller has been on the faculty of the International Space University
. He is a contributing editor for Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine
; a member of the International Academy of Astronautics
; a Life Member, Fellow and past Trustee of the International Association of Astronomical Artists
; an Honorary Member of the Sociétè Jules Verne (Paris); a past member of the North American Jules Verne Society and a past Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society
.
A recent project has been Black Cat Press, which Miller has devoted to publishing new editions of rare and obscure science fiction, fantasy and science fact books. Among these are new, original translations of several Jules Verne
novels.
South Boston, Virginia
South Boston is a town in Halifax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,142 at the 2010 census.- History :On December 8, 1796, the General Assembly authorized eight commissioners to establish at Boyd's Ferry on the south side of the Dan River the town of South Boston, named for...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. His current work is primarily the writing and illustration of books specializing in astronomical, astronautical
Astronautics
Astronautics, and related astronautical engineering, is the theory and practice of navigation beyond the Earth's atmosphere. In other words, it is the science and technology of space flight....
and science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
subjects for young adults.
Miller holds a BFA
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
from Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, College of Art and Design. He worked as a commercial artist and designer for six years, before taking a position as art director for the National Air & Space Museum's Albert Einstein Planetarium. He left there in 1977 to became a freelance illustrator and author; to date he has more than forty book titles to his credit, and his illustrations have appeared on scores of book jackets, book interiors and in magazines such as National Geographic, Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...
, Scientific American
Scientific American
Scientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
, Smithsonian
Smithsonian (magazine)
Smithsonian is the official journal published by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The first issue was published in 1970.-History:...
, Analog
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an American science fiction magazine. As of 2011, it is the longest running continuously published magazine of that genre...
, Starlog
Starlog
Starlog was a monthly science-fiction film magazine published by Starlog Group Inc. The magazine was created by publishers Kerry O'Quinn and Norman Jacobs. O'Quinn was the magazine's editor while Jacobs ran the business side of things, dealing with typesetters, engravers and printers. They got...
, Air & Space, Sky & Telescope, Science et Vie, Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
, Natural History
Natural History (magazine)
Natural History is an American natural history magazine. The stated mission of the magazine is to promote public understanding and appreciation of nature and science.- History :...
, Discover
Discover (magazine)
Discover is an American science magazine that publishes articles about science for a general audience. The monthly magazine was launched in October 1980 by Time Inc. It was sold to Family Media, the owners of Health, in 1987. Walt Disney Company bought the magazine when Family Media went out of...
, GEO
GEO (magazine)
GEO is a family of educational monthly magazines similar to the National Geographic magazine. It is known for its profound reports, which are accompanied by opulent pictures.The first edition appeared in Germany in 1976...
and others.
Miller has translated and illustrated new editions of Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, From the Earth to the Moon and Journey to the Center of the Earth as well as a companion/atlas to Verne's works, Extraordinary Voyages. He has acted as a consultant on Verne for Walt Disney Imagineering
Walt Disney Imagineering
Walt Disney Imagineering is the design and development arm of the Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation and construction of Disney theme parks worldwide...
(for the Paris Disneyland) and A&E Television Network's
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
Biography
Biography (TV series)
Biography is a documentary television series. It was originally a half-hour filmed series produced for CBS by David Wolper from 1961 to 1964 and hosted by Mike Wallace. The A&E Network later re-ran it and has produced new episodes since 1987...
series. Miller's book The Dream Machines, a comprehensive 744-page history of manned spacecraft, was nominated for the International Astronautical Federation
International Astronautical Federation
International Astronautical Federation , the world's foremost space advocacy organisation, is based in Paris. It was founded in 1951 as a non-governmental organization. It has 206 members from 58 countries across the world. They are drawn from space agencies, industry, professional associations,...
's Manuscript Award and won the Booklist Editor's Choice Award. His original paintings are in numerous private and public collections, including the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
and the Pushkin Museum
Pushkin Museum
The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour....
(Moscow).
He designed a set of ten commemorative postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
s for the U.S. Postal Service. One of the stamps in the Space Exploration series (1991), is credited with helping inspire the New Horizons mission to that planet. The Pluto stamp was attached to the spacecraft before launch. He has been a production illustrator for motion pictures, notably Dune
Dune (film)
Dune is a 1984 science fiction film written and directed by David Lynch, based on the 1965 Frank Herbert novel of the same name. The film stars Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides, and includes an ensemble of well-known American and European actors in supporting roles. It was filmed at the Churubusco...
and an unproduced version of Total Recall
Total Recall
Total Recall is a 1990 American science fiction action film. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside, Ronny Cox & Mel Johnson, Jr.. It is based on the Philip K. Dick story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale”...
; and he designed and co-wrote the computer-generated show ride film, Comet Impact! for SimEx. He has provided concept and special effects art for numerous other films.
Miller has taken part in international space art workshops and exhibitions, including seminal sessions held in Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. He was invited by the Soviet government to the 30th anniversary celebration of the launch of Sputnik, and has lectured on space art and space history in the U.S., France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. He was featured on Hour 25
Hour 25
Hour 25 was a radio program focusing on science fiction, fantasy, and science. It was broadcast on Pacifica radio station KPFK in Southern California from 1972 to 2000, and is now distributed over the Internet. It has featured numerous interviews with famous authors of science fiction and fantasy,...
Science Fiction Radio program in early 2003.
An authority on the work of astronomical artist Chesley Bonestell
Chesley Bonestell
Chesley Bonestell was an American painter, designer and illustrator. His paintings were a major influence on science fiction art and illustration, and he helped inspire the American space program...
, his book The Art of Chesley Bonestell received a Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
in 2002; other books have received awards, including a Silver Award for best fiction from ForeWord magazine for Palaces & Prisons and the Violet Crown Award from the Writers' League of Texas
Writers' League of Texas
The Writers' League of Texas was established in 1981 as the Austin Writers' League in Austin, Texas. It is a nonprofit professional organization whose primary purpose is to provide a forum for information, support, and sharing among writers, to help members improve and market their writing skills,...
for Bradamant. His Worlds Beyond series received the American Institute of Physics
American Institute of Physics
The American Institute of Physics promotes science, the profession of physics, publishes physics journals, and produces publications for scientific and engineering societies. The AIP is made up of various member societies...
Award of Excellence. The Grand Tour has gone through three editions, multiple printings, several translations, was a Hugo Award nominee and has sold over 250,000 copies. It was also twice a Book-of-the-Month feature selection. This and other books have been selections of the Science, Quality Paperback and Science Fiction Book Clubs. His book, Digital Art, was listed on the VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) Nonfiction Honor List in 2009. In all, he has 75 works in 142 publications in 6 languages in 16,977 libraries world-wide.
Miller has been on the faculty of the International Space University
International Space University
The International Space University is a private university founded in 1987. The University currently offers three degree granting programs — Master of Science in Space Management, Master of Science in Space Studies and Executive MBA — in addition to a non-degree-granting Space Studies Program.The...
. He is a contributing editor for Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine
Air & Space
Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine is a bimonthly magazine put out by the National Air and Space Museum. Because the museum is a part of the Smithsonian Institution, which puts out its own Smithsonian magazine, the magazine's full title is Air & Space/Smithsonian...
; a member of the International Academy of Astronautics
International Academy of Astronautics
The International Academy of Astronautics is an international community of experts committed to expanding the frontiers of space. It is a non-governmental organisation established in Stockholm on August 16, 1960....
; a Life Member, Fellow and past Trustee of the International Association of Astronomical Artists
International Association of Astronomical Artists
The International Association of Astronomical Artists , is a non-profit organization whose members implement and participate in astronomical and space art projects, promote education about space art and foster international cooperation in artistic work inspired by the exploration of the...
; an Honorary Member of the Sociétè Jules Verne (Paris); a past member of the North American Jules Verne Society and a past Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society
British Interplanetary Society
The British Interplanetary Society founded in 1933 by Philip E. Cleator, is the oldest space advocacy organisation in the world whose aim is exclusively to support and promote astronautics and space exploration.-Structure:...
.
A recent project has been Black Cat Press, which Miller has devoted to publishing new editions of rare and obscure science fiction, fantasy and science fact books. Among these are new, original translations of several Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
novels.
Books written or co-written
- The Space Art Poster Book (Stackpole, 1979)
- Space Art (Starlog, 1979)
- The Grand Tour (Workman, 1981; revised edition, 1993; revised edition, 2005) with William K. Hartmann
- Worlds Beyond: The Art of Chesley Bonestell (Donning, 1983) with Frederick C. Durant, III
- Out of the CradleOut of the Cradle (book)Out of the Cradle: Exploring the Frontiers beyond Earth is a book by William K. Hartmann, Ron Miller, and Pamela Lee. According to WorldCat, it is held in over 450 US and Canadian libraries....
(Workman, 1984) with William K. Hartmann - Cycles of Fire (Workman, 1987) with William K. Hartmann
- Stars and Planets (Doubleday, 1987) Illustrator
- Mathematics (illustrator: Doubleday, 1989) Illustrator
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Unicorn, 1988) Illustrator and translator
- In the Stream of Stars (Workman, 1990) with William K. Hartmann; foreword by Ray Bradbury
- The Bronwyn Trilogy: Palaces & Prisons, Silk & Steel, Hearts & Armor (Ace, 1991–1992) Novels
- The History of Earth (Workman, 1992) with William K. Hartmann
- The Dream Machines (Krieger, 1993) Foreword by Arthur C. Clarke
- Extraordinary Voyages (Black Cat Press, 1994) Foreword by Forrest J. Ackerman
- BrainQuest (Workman, 1994)
- Firebrands (Paper Tiger, 1998) Illustrator
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Dorling Kindersley, 1998) Adaptation
- The History of Rockets (Grolier, 1999)
- Bradamant (Timberwolf, 2000) Novel
- The History of Science Fiction (Grolier, 2001)
- The Art of Chesley Bonestell (Paper Tiger, 2001) with Frederick C. Durant, III
- Mermaids & Meteors (Black Cat Press, 2005) Novel
- Velda (Timberwolf Press, 2003) Novel
- Worlds Beyond (eleven-book series, Millbrook Press, 2002–2005): Earth & Moon; Saturn; The Sun; Mars; Venus; Uranus & Neptune; Extrasolar Planets; Mercury & Pluto; Jupiter; Asteroids, Comets & Meteors; Stars & Galaxies
- Special Effects in the Movies (Millbrook Press, 2006)
- The Elements (Millbrook Press, 2004)
- 13 Steps to Velda (Black Cat Press, 2005) Short story collection
- Captain Judikah (Black Cat Press, 2005) Novel
- Pathetic Selections (Black Cat Press, 2005) Editor
- Journey to the Center of the Earth (Barnes & Noble, 2009) Translator
- The Conquest of Space (four-book series, Lerner, 2007–2008): Rockets, Satellites, Robot Explorers, Space Exploration
- Extreme Wonders: Aircraft (HarperCollins, 2007)
- Digital Art (Lerner, 2007)
- Cleopatra (Chelsea House, 2008) with Sommer Browning; foreword by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
- The Seven Wonders of Engineering (Lerner, 2009)
- The Seven Wonders of the Gas Giants (Lerner, 2010)
- The Seven Wonders of the Rocky Planets (Lerner, 2010)
- The Seven Wonders of Comets, Asteroids and Meteors (Lerner, 2010)
- Copernicus and Galileo (Lerner, nd)
- Is the End of the World Near? (Lerner, 2011)
- Journey to the Exoplanets (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011) Book app; with Edward Bell