If you were going to be sent back in time, what scientific knowledge would help you survive? It’s a harder question than you might think!

This year I am hosting an event at the British Science Festival called “Tattoos for Time Travellers”. It’s a thought experiment, which poses the following scenario:

Imagine that we’re about to send you back in time. You can’t take anything with you (not even your clothes!), but we do have an amazing tattooist, and she’ll write or draw anything you want on your body before you go. What information do you need to survive, to thrive, to change the future? Will you be hailed as a genius or burnt as a witch? Use your ink wisely!

The festival is hosted this year by the University of Birmingham, and if you’re around on 6 Saturday you can drop in to the festival pub, the Flask and Bunsen, between 6 and 8pm to chat or debate about your tattoo scheme. Even if you’re not lucky enough to be coming to the festival, you can still take part by commenting here, or by tweeting your ideas with the hashtag #BSFtattoos.

Some tweeters have already come up with some great ideas, and some hints and tips for would-be time travellers.

Erik M. Gregersen (@erikgregersen) It would depend how far back you go and I think a diagram that would be tough to remember would better than an equation. #BSFTattoos

Sarah Castell (@sarahcastell) @ScienceShowoff @BritishSciFest Ah, now I've thought about this one a lot over the last 30 years. It would have to be "NOW WASH YOUR HANDS".

Science Showoff (@ScienceShowoff) Going back in time I would have the words "design a tiny weaving machine for coloured rubber bands" tattooed on me. #bsftattoos

…although some people have been sceptical about the safety of getting a tattoo at all

anthony spinner (@tonesekl) @HPS_Vanessa @FernRiddell I wouldnt get tattooed in case septicemia set in and there would be no anti-biotics available.

Tattoos in history

Tattooing is an ancient practice, and tattoos have probably been used as status symbols and ways of identifying certain individuals and their skills, vocations or tribal affiliations; but they may also have had medical purposes. In the late 19th century French doctor Daniel Marie Fouquet suggested that the tattoos discovered on Egyptian mummies might be associated with healing rituals.

Gruesome as it may sound, 19th century doctors and anatomists collected tattoos – either as parts of anatomical collections, or for anthropological study. The Wellcome Collection in London has a set of several hundred tattoos on human skin, most of which seem to have come from French soldiers and prisoners. In many places and at many times tattoos have been used to mark or brand convicted criminals. Tattoos were also used as a form of early forensic identification, especially in the 19th century when the telegraph allowed police forces to send descriptions of wanted criminals rapidly over long distances.

However artistic, most 19th century collectors considered tattoos a dubious form of bodily decoration. In 1898 Italian doctor Cesare Lombroso, one of the first criminologists, wrote a piece for the American magazine, Popular Science Monthly, called “The Savage Origins of Tattooing”. The use of the word “savage”, which would remind readers both of violent criminality, and of what they would consider “primitive” peoples, was quite deliberate. Lombroso thought tattoos originated in what he considered to be inferior “savage” societies (in other words, non-white societies), but were becoming increasingly common among the criminal underclass of Europe.

Lombroso became most famous for his theory that criminality is inherent, that it is fixed biologically (we would say inherited, or genetic) and not a consequence of psychological or social factors. Because it was inherited he believed it was possible to judge someone’s personality based on their physical appearance – in other words that you could literally see that someone was (or would grow up to be) criminal, or violent, or lustful. Lombroso’s theories formed part of a racist eugenics movement which argued that non-white races were inferior to white races – and that you could tell which were more inferior by the slant of their foreheads or the size of their noses. So getting a tattoo was a “savage” act – and when a white European chose to get one this indicated something doubtful in their character, especially if it was a woman. Of course, there were exceptions – both King Edward VII and his son George V had at least one tattoo.

Tattooing could be a very dangerous activity, at least before antiseptic practices and antibiotics. In 1861 the French army and navy attempted to ban tattooing after a naval surgeon published an article on the dangers of infection and death. In the 1880s an outbreak of syphilis in a British naval barracks was traced to an infected tattooist.

A fairly gruesome illustration of what could go wrong with a 19th century tattoo. Illustration from ‘Three Cases of Inoculation of Tuberculosis from Tattooing’ (British Medical Journal, 1 June 1895). Image: Wellcome Library, London.

So, if this hasn’t put you off the idea of a time traveller’s tattoo: what would you get done? How would it help you? Here are some tips…

Choosing a good tattoo for time travelling





When and where do you think you will end up? The best tattoo for early medieval Spain might not be the best tattoo for late Qing dynasty China…

If your tattoo contains instructions for making something, will you be able to find all the parts or ingredients?

If your tattoo contains a scientific theory, or a list of facts, how will you use them? How will you convince people that these facts and theories are true?

Where will you have it done? Will it be visible? What will the people around you think it means? Lombroso was convinced criminal tattoos contained secret meanings – could your tattoo be misread?

Good luck!

You can tweet your ideas to @HPS_Vanessa, or just use the hashtag #BSFtattoos