Science Ink
Tattoos of the Scientifically Obsessed
by Carl Zimmer
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Science Ink
Body art meets popular science in Science Ink. Carl Zimmer showcases hundreds of eye-catching tattoos that pay tribute to various scientific disciplines, from evolutionary biology and neuroscience to mathematics and astrophysics.
Not only does Zimmer reveal the stories of the individuals who chose to inscribe their obsessions in their skin; he also uses each tattoo as a leaping-off point to reflect on the science in question. For example, many people have tattoos of a spiral generated by the so-called Golden Ratio, which is linked to the mathematical constant phi. Zimmer shows how this number (1.618...) plays a unique role in mathematics, physics, and nature, from sunflower seeds to nautilus shells.
One woman has a Fourier transform inked on her wrist; this wavy pattern represents a key tool in breaking noisy signals, such as climate cycles, down into their individual components. Another individual’s arm shows the Schrödinger equation, the physics formula describing how the quantum state of a physical system changes in time.
Other tattoo aficionados are more impressed by the life sciences. “It’s not a big surprise,” writes Zimmer, “that a fair number of evolutionary biologists have tattooed Darwin on their bodies.” Indeed, these pages feature tattoos depicting a giant Charles Darwin standing on the Empire State Building, a la King Kong; a sketch of H.M.S. Beagle, the ship that carried Darwin around the globe in the 1830s. Two people decided to celebrate Darwin’s 200th birthday in 2009 by having Darwin’s finches—whose beaks offered a clue to natural selection—tattooed on their bodies.
Science Ink celebrates a unique way of dedicating one’s body to science.
Hardcover : 288 pages
Publisher: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. ( October 04, 2011 )
Item #: 13-402219
Product Weight: 36.0 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
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