Lindsay writes, “It’s from Edwin Abbott’s Flatland. The idea is that if your eye was one the same 2D plane, looking at the circle from the tip of the point on the right, you would actually perceive the 2D shape (the circle) as a 1D shape (the line). It’s a reminder for me that if you’re so entrenched in something, you won’t be able to see the big picture and, therefore, you should try to keep perspective.”

Flatland at Google Books. More at Wikipedia.

Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium. 

Originally published December 3, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.

Here’s a new review of Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. (Open access–most excellent.) The reviewer likes the book: “Mr. Zimmer has woven a fascinating tapestry, intercalating the energy of world-changing scientific discovery with the fascinating complexity of a well-understood living organism. His work will be welcomed by the scientist and the science enthusiast.”

On the other hand, it’s a little queasy to read that I’m “an American science writer at the zenith of his profession.” Does that mean it’s downhill from here?

Continue reading “More Microcosm News: “A Fascinating Tapestry” and a Paperback in the Works” →

Mike, a geologist, writes: “Various stages of human evolution around a take of Da Vinci’s Vitruvian man.”

Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium. 

Originally published December 2, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.

Having emerged from my turkey-induced coma, I have regained my powers of speech and am ready for two talks I’ve got this week:

Monday (today, December 1), I’ll be talking about science writing at a Master’s Tea at Saybrook College at Yale University at 4. It’s open to Yale students and faculty.

On Thursday at 7 pm I’ll be talking at Rockefeller University in Manhattan, as part of the NYC Skeptics Public Lecture Series. The title of the talk is “The Darwin Beat.” Here are more details. Admission is free.

Continue reading “Yale and Rockefeller U: This Week In Talk” →

On bloggingheads.tv, I talk to Tyler Volk about the beautiful, dangerous carbon cycle. Check it out. 

Originally published November 23, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.