“I got mine in grad school (PhD materials science and applied physics, 2004 Cal). The tattoo is a convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) image of 6-4 Ti alloy (hexagonal, or beta phase) one of the first ‘super alloys’. Being light-weight, high-strength, and corrosion resistant, I felt it was appropriate to put on my back, to keep it strong.”–Abraham
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Originally published February 17, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.
“The atom is on the left shoulder of Raychelle Burks, chemistry PhD candidate at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. She got the tattoo upon turning 18 and deciding to pursue a career in science. She got the tattoo in her hometown of Pomona, CA at The Body Shop. The Chinese characters tattoo says ‘Scientist’ and is on the left ankle of Matthew Shortridge, chemistry PhD candidate at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. He got the tattoo upon turning 18 and deciding to pursue a career in science. He got the tattoo in his hometown of Lincoln, NE at Aavardaxx’s Tattoo. They met years later at UNL, started dating in the Fall of 2006, and soon learned they both had science tattoos. Two nerds meant to be together.”–Raychelle Burks
Here is a picture of my serotonin tattoo. I don’t know that it needs much more explanation than it’s my favorite neurotransmitter.–Hayley
Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium.
Originally published February 17, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.
“I got this tattoo, which encircles my left wrist, in 2000. The tat is described by this function(1/n)*sin(nx) with n from 1 to 6. I had done a lot of work with fourier transforms on the research project I was involved in as an undergrad physics student, and just find the entire concept very beautiful. At the time that I got the tat, I was a master’s student in materials science and was taking a class on fourier optics. As music also plays a very large role in my life, the image/concept has a double meaning for me. As an added ‘feature’, the artist made a small mistake on the inside of my wrist (the n=4 line disappears for a bit). This really bugged me at first until I decided it was a good metaphor for how the messy reality of life is never perfectly represented by our mathematical theories.”
“Here’s my tattoo of a Latin Hippocrates quote. Translated it says “life is short, art is long”.–Katie
Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium.
Originally published February 17, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.