Science Ink - Hundreds of science-themed tattoos worn by working scientists

Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed

by Carl Zimmer

Sterling

2011, 288 pages, 7.3 x 10.3 x 1.1

$17 Buy a copy on Amazon

Some scientists so identify with their work that they mark their bodies with it, inking the key idea in an indelible tattoo on their skin. Science writer Carl Zimmer has collected images of several hundred science-themed tattoos worn by working scientists. As summary of science, a tat needs to be brief, cool, and visual. Whether you would ever wear it yourself, these tattoos are marvelous encapsulations of very sophisticated notions. There is a story — an often personal story — behind each science tattoo, and very often the explanation behind the iconography can illuminate the science behind it as well. Science tattoos are pretty geeky, but their visual wit is admirable, entertaining, and even educational. Zimmer’s collection I’m sure only touches the surface of what is out there, but the book is handsome, solid, and will never go out of date. – Kevin Kelly