Science communication through an illustrated book
This is an illustrated popular science book that talks about how animals change their coloration. It conveys the science of behavior through the lens of molecular biology. Written as a conversation between instruments in the lab, the book is interactive.
The book was created during a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Minhaj Sirajuddin at inStem, Bangalore. The ideation and research for the book were done by deep reading of scientific literature and visualizing views through lab instruments.
We hope our book will inspire a new generation of students and adults to engage in scientific curiosities and ask fundamental questions when exploring nature or their surroundings.
Some motivations and processes are discussed here.
Why did we make the book about colors? and choose to work with the themes we did.
— ipsa jain (she/her) (@ipsawonders) January 18, 2022
Listen from the makers. https://t.co/hd2XGzuii4 pic.twitter.com/h2ADoq5MPz
Small projects came out as an offshoot of the book project.
We created an animated video with instructions on doing the experiments that allow one to access the science of color change in a laboratory environment with limited tools. I also made a small accordion zine with playful collages of animals created using textured paper.
Sharing at Conferences
I spoke about the making of the book via posters at various conferences. I shared what it means to make a science book in the lab, and what that process looks like.
I also presented the overall reflection, motivation, and process of making the book at the GNSI online conference, 2022.
Events and public engagements
India Science Festival event (2022)
A proxy for a launch event during the pandemic, we shared the process of making a book along with interactions like book reading by audience and quizzes, and microscopy demonstration.
Bangalore International Centre workshop (2022)
In a fun workshop at an accessible place in the city, we imagined fantasy creatures and created animal collages using textured and colored paper with young and adult audiences.
Bangalore Design Week event (2022)
In a city-wide festival, we interacted with the public at the Cubbon Park metro station in Bangalore, sharing wonders of animal and plant colors and pigments and dyes used in the lab.
Media mentions
ClubSciwri
Live Mint
Testimonials
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