Feynman’s Flower

Bob Nidever has recently created virtual spaces for science art networking.

His blog “Art in Science” lists science art competitions and opportunities: http://artinscience.wordpress.com/

His Facebook group “Science Art Cafe” for chatting and networking: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=46717338652

His twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bnidever

I hope these take off - science art networking is so very needed.

Jeff Hoke, Museum of Lost Wonder

That’s really what science art is about, to me: Re-introducing people to the wonder and awe they felt from exploring nature as children. Besides the Particle Zookeeper, another person I was pleased to meet last weekend was Jeff Hoke.

If you are not familiar with Jeff’s book The Museum of Lost Wonder, go familiarize yourself with it now. A synthesis of science, alchemy, and philosophy, it is also a one person’s journey pondering big questions. It will have you pondering these, too.

Jeff’s drawings are amazing, reminiscent of Edward Gorey and Chris Ware. His lines contain so much emotion and mystery. More amazing are his models, which can be cut out and assembled into 3D, often moving, dioramas. He has truly created his own world, a dusty library of a world with magic and secrets and symbols and endless possibility contained within.

Jeff has an interesting day job, too. He is an exhibit designer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. He designed a exhibit with “lots of velvet” for jellyfish. Really, so cool.

I admit that I first checked out his book at the local library. But before I had finished reading, I had ordered 6 books to be scattered among my friends and family. Come to think of it, I may need a few more for Winter Solstice gifts.

Visit The Museum of Lost Wonder

Last weekend I showed my stuff at Wonderfest, the Bay Area science festival held one day at Stanford and one day at UC Berkeley. Despite the pouring rain and thunder outside, the turn-out was great. My favorite part of Wonderfest was meeting other people who combine art and science in fun & amazing ways. One of these people is Julie Peasley who creates cuddly subatomic particles.

Julie, from LA but previously from the bay area, hand sews her particle softies. She has the complete standard model collection, including the - still elusive in real life - Higgs Boson. Many of her creations contain fun hints at the particle’s identity. The strange quark has three eyes.

In a most insipred bit of geekiness, Julie weights the plushies to reflect the relative weights of the particles. And, of course, they all come with a little story card about the particle. *swoon* I love those covert science lessons!

See the awesomeness of the Particle Zoo

Some people believe that learning science takes away one’s wonder of the world. They fear that science reduces Nature’s beauty into ugly clockwork. I believe that science helps uncover the beauty of Nature. Richard Feynman, physicist and communicator agreed with me:

“I have a friend who’s an artist and he’s sometimes taken a view which I don’t agree with very
well. He’ll hold up a flower and say, ‘Look how beautiful it is,’ and I’ll agree, I think. And he
says, ‘You see, I as an artist can see how beautiful this is, but you, as a scientist, you take
this all apart and it becomes a dull thing.

And I think that he’s kind of nutty. First of all, the beauty that he sees is available to other
people and to me, too, I believe, although I might not be quite as refined aesthetically as he is.
But I can appreciate the beauty of a flower. At the same time I see much more about the
flower that he sees. I can imagine the cells in there, the complicated actions inside which also
have a beauty….

Also, the processes, the fact that the colors in the flower evolved in order to attract insects to
pollinate it is interesting - it means that insects can see the color. It adds a question: Does
this aesthetic sense also exist in the lower forms? Why is it aesthetic? All kinds of interesting
questions which shows that a scientific knowledge only adds to the excitement and mystery
and the awe of a flower. It only adds; I don’t understand how it can subtract.”

So, that’s where Feynman’s Flower comes from. This blog will reflect my interests: art that communicates the the beauty of Nature we discover through science, my work towards communicating science through creative means, and science discoveries in the realms of molecules, microbiology, and physics that are too good not to share.