Check this thing out.
It’s an accordion sketchbook. The first time I saw one of these things was at work. The two we have there are by the artist Xanti Schawinsky. When you unfold them, they’re over 30 feet long (the one I bought is 10 feet long when unfolded). I’ve wanted to find and use one of these suckers for a few years now. The other weekend I found one at New York Central Art Supply and immediately bought it.
So I’ve been staring at this thing for a few weeks now thinking about what I should do with it. And today I think I’ve decided what I’m going to do.
After being inspired by Crispian Jago’s Skeptic Trumps, I’m going to make a hand-drawn and lettered book of scientists through the ages. I’ll begin in ancient times and work my way forward through to the modern era. The question is, who should I include? I’m actually pretty compelled to throw in more than a few underdogs and lesser-known folks. After learning about Ada Lovelace and Rosalind Franklin, I’ve become interested in people who, to a large extent, history has left behind. It also ties in nicely with the artist I mentioned above. Schawinsky is not a very well known artist, but it’s not due to a lack of talent. He was immensely productive; a student and then later a teacher at The Bauhaus, he has been left out of most of the history books.
So here is my idea: I would like readers to share their thoughts on who I should draw in the book. It doesn’t have to be a little-known scientist, I’m sure Einstein will make the cut, but I would like to highlight some underdogs.
Leave some names for me in the comments and I’ll choose from them and a few of my own. As I complete work on each portrait and bio, I’ll post them here.
Ok, he's well known but I'd be a poor fan if I didn't suggest Sagan. That man stole my science-loving heart :-)
ReplyDeleteAristotle (his word was scientific fact until the end of the middle age, Galen(performed successful brain surgery before the birth of christ), Copernicus(heliocentric model), Nikola Tesla(almost made electricity free/invented the internet in the early 20th century).
ReplyDeleteReading about weird historical scientists is a hobby of mine, you might also like: Joule, Brahe, or Descartes.
Tesla is a good one. Thomas Jefferson & Ben Franklin could equally be nice, but not underdog enough.
ReplyDeleteI'll second Tesla. And add Pythagoras, if it's possible to dig up a reliable source; I know he was, strictly speaking, a mathematician, but he set up the lenses through which we understand the cosmos.
ReplyDeleteanother for tesla... da vinci also (two for one there)...
ReplyDeleteWell, looks like everyone likes Tesla. In he goes!
ReplyDeleteAlso, K mentioned that it would be a good idea to include popularizers of science (think Mythbusters, Vonnegut, etc.) which is an idea that I really like. I like it so much, that I've decided to make a second book, just on popularizers.
I’d like to see Newton and Leibniz in the same frame throwing math books at each other.
ReplyDelete