German zoologist Ernst Haeckel [1834-1919] is best known for coining the phrase “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny”. The historical hypothesis means that the development of an organism (ontogeny) follows (recapitulates) the same phases of the evolution of larger ancestral groups (phylogeny). But his deep understanding of science is his least admirable quality. Instead, his role in illustrating his microscopic findings in the form of easy to understand drawings has drawn many scientists to him.
A staunch follower of naturalist Charles Darwin, Haeckel made colourful and stylised drawings of different forms of plant life, radiolarians (single-celled aquatic animals), and several flora and fauna. If you look at his collection today, the hand-drawn organisms would seem as characters straight out of a three-dimensional movie.
He is not the only one who married science with art. Scientific pioneers John James Audubon, Sarah Anne Drake and Robert Hooke are also artistic visionaries. Thanks to them, today there is a full-blown community of science illustrators presenting complex ideas through exemplary animations.
Art attack
Ipsa Jain |
Bengaluru-based Ipsa Jain is a scientist turned visual artist. “I was always inclined towards drawing and would make decent graphics for my presentations and assignments,” she says. “Towards the fag end of my PhD in molecular oncology [at the Indian Institute of Science], once I was confident that the lab life was not for me, I decided to look for careers in science beyond research. With the clarity that I prefer drawing over writing, I chose science illustration.” To improve her form, she did some Coursera courses on illustration and graphic design to learn the basic principles and the language of visual culture.
During a student festival at the IISc, Jain got the chance to put up some of her work for sale. This led her to the first paid gig.
Argha Manna |
Visualising the history of science
Howrah-based Argha Manna, a cancer researcher-turned comics artist, has a similar story to share. A trained cancer biologist, Manna says he was frustrated during the final year of PhD by the conventional practices in academia. “I wanted to do something new and cool,” he says.
The year 2015 changed the fate of his career. “It was the year when two giants in scientific publishing released comics. The Science magazine published a comic titled ‘General Relativity: The Comic Book’ by Adrian Cho and based on Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. The Nature magazine also published a comic on climate change titled ‘The Fragile Framework’ by Nick Sousanis.”
He came to a realisation that comics can be used as an effective tool to deal with serious subjects. “Then I decided, I will draw comics on science and science history.”
In 2020, Manna drew a comic on how pathogens possibly spread through spitting, coughing and sneezing. This was based on the research done by Prof. Lydia Bourouiba, director and founder of the Fluid Dynamics of Disease Transmission Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The comic titled ‘Be Aware of Droplets and Bubbles’ got accepted by the Annals of Internal Medicine journal. The Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) also featured it in their Graphic Medicine-The Best of 2020 list. To this day, this remains one of his most favourite works in the field of science illustration. “It brought me the rare opportunity to work at MIT in person under a very prestigious grant from MIT Center for Science, Arts and Technology,” he shares. “Now under this grant, I and Prof. Bourouiba are working on a new project titled ‘A paradigm shift in infectious disease’. Our aim is to document the whole history of air-borne disease transmission research through comics.”
From ‘Be Aware of Droplets and Bubble’ by Argha Manna and Lydia Bourouiba |
How it is done
Scientific illustration involves having a deep understanding with the researcher. Jain usually starts with a quick conversation to understand the context of the subject and then spends time reading about it. “This is followed by a conversation with scientists. Then we discuss a possible narrative/message that would be suitable for the intended audience. These rough drafts go through reviews and iterations unless the visual work satisfies the needs of the science, scientists and the audience,” Jain says.
Jain sees value in this work in multiple ways. “Visual media increases the accessibility of technical communication, often,” she adds. “Apart from clarifying concepts, visuals can also generate drama, curiosity, joy, and a sense of beauty. Picking on these emotive qualities also fosters trust in science.”
Today, Jain is involved in training new people on how they can use visual media for scientific communication. “Some of the upcoming names in this field are Mahek Kothari and Atharva Deshpande.”
Manna, however, feels that while a good number of artists working on scientific subjects are emerging, there is still no proper community in place. “They know each other through social media but a strong collaboration, sci-art society or a sci-art club hasn’t been formed yet, which is necessary. I hope in near future some umbrella initiative will come up to strengthen the communication between every individual sci-artist from the country,” he signs off.
