The girl with the Darwin tattoo
22.05.12
I’ve always wanted a tattoo but never quite had the courage to get one. As I get older, the urge gets stronger, and I search for that defining image. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime decision, and you don’t want to regret it.
I’m fascinated by people who get tattoos, and wonder what makes them endure the pain only to permanently brand their body. I’m equally intrigued by the images they choose. Is the choice based on aesthetics? Or is it an obsession with an idea? I mean, why would anyone choose the drawing of the extinct dodo for a tattoo? The bird is iconic all right, but nothing much to look at. Yet, a Purdue University (Indiana, US) PhD student working on wildlife population genetics proudly wears a tattoo of the dodo.
Science Ink—Tattoos of the Science Obsessed By Carl Zimmer, Sterling, 271 pages, $24.95, (around Rs1,200).
Tattoos are individual statements; behind every tattoo, they say, is a story. An insect neurobiologist has her entire back covered with tattoos of invertebrates because she is obsessed with them. A chemistry student at the University of Washington, US, who suffers from a digestive disorder has on her leg an intricate tattoo of gluten protein that she cannot digest.
Source: Livemint