Astronauts: Women on the FInal Frontier

Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks are two of the best graphic novel creators who work in the arena of science. They collaborated years ago on Primates, which is one of my favorite books about biology, and here they combine forces again to chronicle the history of women and space flight. They chose to do it through the eyes of Mary Cleave, a veteran of two Space Shuttle flights, which I think gives the whole enterprise a specific and detailed account that makes everything more personal and engaging, even funny at times.

Cleave was involved for a good while with NASA, and so she had all sorts of information about the prerequisites for being an astronaut, the laborious application process, and the intense training program. Along the way, we are privy to info about how astronauts go to the bathroom in space, how they eat, and how they learn to live together in the confinements of their vehicles. I really like how the science here is well balanced with mundane features of space travel. And I got a good look into the workings of the Space Shuttle program as well.

Those looking for general information about women astronauts will also not be disappointed. Even with all the specificity, this book is chock full of other information, including a look at the Soviet space program and Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to go to space (in 1963!). It took a long while for the US to involve women as astronauts in the space program, mainly due to sexism and relatively few women trained as pilots or engineers. And we get insight into this era also.

The artwork is very attractive and colorful. This book features strongly rendered characters as well as lots of technical details. Emotions shine through well, and we also get to see all the buttons, gadgets, and other doo-dads in clear fashion. It is a substantive and entertaining book that I could see being used for lots of purposes, in a classroom as well as for a free reading choice for the science-curious.

In addition to their collaboration on Primates, these creators have a sizable corpus of science-themed books. Ottaviani has written a number of great graphic novels about scientific inquiry including ones about the early days of paleontology, the space race, physicist Niels Bohr, women science pioneers, and the biographies Hawking and Feynman. Wicks tends to focus mainly on biological topics like Coral Reefs and Human Body Theater.

All of the reviews I have read of this book have been glowing. It received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly. KR summed it up, "Exhilarating—as well as hilarious, enraging, or both at once depending on the reader." PW remarked positively on Cleave's "colloquial storytelling, humorous observations, and asides are highlights—Wicks and Ottaviani skillfully capture Cleave’s infectious enthusiasm up to the last page." Corey S. Powell wrote, "Its only real shortcoming is that the book leaves you wanting more; fortunately, it ends with a helpful bibliography and list of resources."

Astronauts was published by First Second, and they a preview and much more here.

Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas

Primates is a  melange of three biographies of female scientists joined by their research interests in the great apes and the roots of their academic work. All three all began getting their funded projects through Louis Leakey, a huge figure in the search for the ancestry of humankind. He felt that women were especially suited for scientific work beyond men because of their patience and ability to perceive differently. He also had a wandering eye, which complicated his marriage and also perhaps led to some of the attention and opportunity he gave this trio.

Me Tarzan, you Jane.

Regardless of their work's geneses, all three ended up doing pivotal and important work on primates, their behaviors, their biological workings, and also protecting the animals and their habitats. Jane Goodall studied chimpanzees, discovering much about how they lived and used tools. This last finding was especially important to Dr. Leakey's work and it is playfully portrayed in the book:

Look ma, no hands!

Dian Fossey studied gorillas and found them gentle and noble herbivores, not at all like typical media depictions as monsters like King Kong.

Does that look like a monster behind her?

She was the expert on gorillas when she was alive and their most strident defender against poachers, which led to her untimely demise. Her work goes on via The Gorilla Fund.

Biruté Galdikas's work on orangutans was also groundbreaking, though she was frustrated at times by their rather lackluster lifestyle:

As with the others her stories focus on her experiences roughing it in the jungle and also dealing with relationships with other people in such settings.

Primates is the creation of writer Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks. Ottaviani has written a number of great graphic novels about scientific inquiry including ones about the early days of paleontology, the space race, physicist Niels Bohr, women science pioneers, and the more recent biography Feynman. Wicks has drawn a number of comics and minicomics, including Yes, Let's. She blogs about her work and also has a tumblr. This article sheds more light on both of their takes on this book.

I was especially taken with Wicks's clean and simple linework as well as her use of sound effects and other conventions to convey meaning in economical and effective manner. For instance, this page where Fossey first encounters gorillas is ripe with atmosphere:

Musk and screaming: not scary at all.

Because of the brevity of the book, volumes of research and decades of work are deftly distilled into a small space. Nevertheless, this book serves as an excellent introduction into the work of Goodall, Fossey, and Galdikas that could inspire further reading or study of other primates (there's all kinds of further resources listed, too). I am especially struck by how well it demonstrates connections between the seemingly disparate fields of anthropology, archaeology, and zoology. This book is as much about how science works as it is about the works of specific scientists.

Reviews of the book I have read have been positive. Carl Zimmer of The New York Times expounded on the work of these women and praised this volume as " the kind of book that can produce new scientists" because of how it captures the joy and work of discovery. Kirkus Reviews summed up that it "provides an accessible introduction to Goodall’s, Fossey’s and Galdikas’ lives and work." Tasha Saecker at Walking Brain Cells called it "a stellar pick for school libraries and public libraries that will have children learning about scientific history without even realizing it."

Primates is another excellent graphic novel from the fine folks at First Second. They provide previews and a lot more here.

A big thank you to Gina for the preview copy!

And a big thank you to Ottaviani and Wicks, who I met at HeroesCon this past weekend for signing my copy of this book. They are super nice and talented!

Social patterns of primate scientists

Suspended in Language: Niels Bohr's life, discoveries, and the century he shaped

One of the most influential and important scientists of the 20th century, Niels Bohr won the 1922 Nobel Prize for Physics for his work on determining the structure of atoms and went on to lay out important ideas in the conception of quantum mechanics. His model of electron orbits, although not technically correct, still is used to teach elementary chemistry and physics. This graphic biography follows Neils over his life, from his days as a fumbling doctoral student to his career as a professor and mentor to some of the most important scientists of the day. Many of the scientists who went his institute won Nobel Prizes of their own.

Also, this book details the harrowing days when he was held under house arrest by Nazis and eventually escaped to the US where he worked on the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb. It also follows his many efforts to redirect the course of political action regarding the development of nuclear weapons. In the course of this book some of his most important theories and discoveries are illustrated and explained. His influence is still felt in the field of physics, and his name lives on via the prestigious Neils Bohr Institute in his native Denmark.

Suspended in Language is the product of Jim Ottaviani, Leland Purvis, and a host of other contributors. Ottaviani is a librarian and ex-nuclear engineer who has written a shelf-full of science themed graphic novels. Purvis is an artist known for his work on various webcomics and the Resistance series of graphic novels published by First Second. The other artists illustrate a number of back-matter comics that shed further light on Bohr's life and work.

This graphic biography has been generally well received, even by non-physicists. Johanna Draper Carlson wrote that she appreciated the "playful tone" of the book and also that "one can’t read this book without being affected." Rick the Internet Librarian commented that although this book is not an easy read it is "a good introduction to a major twentieth century scientist and the world he helped create." Time Magazine's Andrew Arnold called the book both "educational and entertaining."

A preview and more information are available here from the book's publisher G.T. Labs.

Happy 48th Birthday, Jim Ottaviani!

Jim Ottaviani is a one man wrecking crew in the world of graphic novels. His GT Labs has created a number of high quality graphic novels about a wide array of scientific disciplines and figures. Among other topics, he has written about notable thinkers such as Richard Feynman, Harry Harlow, and Neils Bohr. He also explores historical events including the Manhattan Project, the early days of paleontology, the space race, and even the physics and psychology of magical illusions. His works combine facts and knowledge with emotion and humor in very effective manners.

A former nuclear engineer and current librarian at the University of Michigan Library where he coordinates the Deep Blue project, Ottaviani shares his far-ranging knowledge about things scientific with his readers. He speaks about the graphic novel craft and self publishing in this interview with The Comic Reporter's Tom Spurgeon.

He has been nominated for Ignatz and Eisner Awards, and won a Xeric Foundation grant for his original comics work Two Fisted Science.

Feynman

This graphic biography focuses on Richard Feynman, an accomplished physicist who became a household name through his popular lectures and books, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman and What Do You Care What Other People Think? He accomplished much in his life, winning the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on quantum electrodynamics. He also worked on the Manhattan Project to develop the first US nuclear bomb and on the commission to determine the causes of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Feynman often approached problems from unique angles, was not afraid to argue with authority figures, and was also a bit of a prankster. He also had a passion to explain the most complicated ideas in ways that laypeople could also understand. His personality and affect served him well in the scientific community, and it is much celebrated in this book.

Feynman is the creation of writer Jim Ottaviani, who has written a number of great graphic novels including ones about the early days of paleontology, the space race, physicist Niels Bohr, and women science pioneers. It was drawn by Leland Myrick, an Ignatz and Harvey Award nominated artist who is best known for his graphic memoir Missouri Boy. This detailed discussion with Robin Brenner at the School Library Journal website gets at many details of this book and Feynman's life.

Thus far, this has been an extremely well reviewed book. The New York Times Book Review's Freeman Dyson remarked that this graphic novel "somehow comes to life and speaks with the voice of the real Feynman." The reviewer at Publishers Weekly wrote that this book proves "that the most dogged intellectual pursuit can still be a good time." The reviewer quantum at the Physics Buzz blog gushed that "Feynman is a true testament to both the uniqueness of Richard Feynman as one of the twentieth century's most remarkable scientists, and the exceptional ability for comics to capture his one of a kind personality."

Feynman was published by First Second. An excerpt, video preview, and copious other information about the book is available here. A slightly altered excerpt also appears here at Kate Beaton's webcomic, Hark! A Vagrant.

Thank you, Gina, for the review copy!

Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards: A Tale of Edward Drinker Cope, Onthniel Charles Marsh and the Gilded Age of Paleontology

People today know lots about dinosaurs, to the point where children can become experts in names, eras, habitats, and probable behaviors at early ages. But 150 years ago during the Gilded Age things were very different. Only 9 species of dinosaur were known in North America then, but two men became involved in a conflict that changed that situation. After a brief collaboration, E. D. Cope and O. C. Marsh waged what was later known as the Bone Wars, striving to locate, obtain, and analyze fossils all over the US, particularly out west, and name as many new species as possible. Their falling out precipitated from an error Marsh publicly pointed out about Cope's reconstruction of an Elasmosaurus skeleton, with the head being placed on the tail instead of the neck.

In their haste to discover new species, they turned to dirty tactics, including throwing rocks at each other from their excavation sites, dynamiting sites, destroying fossils, deliberately relocating fossils, filling in excavation sites, and savaging each other through personal attacks in journal articles. The feud spread to the popular press and became quite a sensation. Cope had a head start and some fortune of his own but Marsh had a large inheritance plus the resources of Yale University funding his work. In the end, Marsh named 80 species and Cope 56. Among their findings were some of the most well-known dinosaurs, including Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Allosaurus, and Diplodocus. Along with their discoveries, there were also a number of misconceptions because of their haste to outdo each other, which took decades to suss out.

This graphic novel covers a lot of ground and also shows this duo's interactions with a number of historical figures, including Charles R. Knight, who went on to create some of the first and most recognizable dinosaur paintings; P. T. Barnum, who gathered and bought curiosities for his traveling shows; President U. S. Grant, and Chief Red Cloud, with whom Marsh deals in order to get access to excavation sites. A copious back matter section helps delineate how much of this book is fact and how much is embellished (or not, it turns out).

The product of Jim Ottaviani and Big Time Attic, Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards is their first collaboration, and they have since worked on the Space Race story T-Minus. Reviewers have largely enjoyed the book. Todd Klein found many of the intricate details in the art and lettering helped convey the story and set a tone, thought the huge cast of characters was sometimes confusing. Johanna Draper Carlson wrote that the politics made a potentially dusty story intriguing and that it was "Ottaviani's most entertaining book yet." Entertainment Weekly's Tom Russo felt the opposite, that the story needed more fictional embellishments. Personally, I felt the real drama made for a very compelling narrative that bears re-reading.

An excerpt, study guide, and a list of reviews is available from Ottaviani's publisher G. T. Labs.

Levitation: Physics and Psychology in the Service of Deception

Prolific science graphic novel writer Jim Ottaviani continues his science of the unscientific series with this look into the history of stage levitation. The book follows this sensational trick from its origins in the work of John Neville Maskelyne ("The Levi") who entranced turn of the (20th) century British audiences with his stage play The Entranced Fakir. His act was stolen and brought to the United States by Harry Kellar (who had tried to buy the act from Maskelyne to no avail) with fantastic success. The act was improved upon by engineer Guy Jarrett who wrote a much-used guide to magic and who also narrates the story. When Kellar tired of touring, he sold his act to Howard Thurston, a charismatic showman with a penchant for card tricks. Thurston went on to being one of the biggest acts of the 20th century.

In this book, Ottaviani focuses not only on how levitation tricks are done but also on the personalities of all the magicians who used them. As with his other works, this book is thoroughly researched and is chock full of information. The art was provided by Janine Johnston, a freelance artist with many credits, including Star Wars and Poison Elves comic books. Her gray-scaled art looks almost water-colored and provides a great atmosphere for the narrative. These two interviews shed more light on the two creators' work on this volume.

Reviews of the book have been largely positive. Johanna Draper Carlson recommended the book, commenting on Johnston's art and the great number of magical mysteries revealed within these pages. Chris Mautner offered that the story was full of slightly awkward exposition but was ultimately winning because of its "educational glimpses into areas of history that have mostly been ignored by the general public."

An excerpt is available here from publisher GT Labs. A study guide and review links can be found here.

For teachers interested in teaching this book, there are a host of materials here from the Get Graphic website.

Wire Mothers: Harry Harlow and the Science of Love

Harry Harlow was a controversial figure in his day. At a time when psychology was interested in pure science and the behaviorism associated with B.F. Skinner, Harlow was interested in love and the role it played in growing up, upbringing, and social systems. He conducted experiments with rhesus monkeys to see what would happen if they were raised in different social situations, including extreme isolation in a "pit of despair." He did most of his work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and served as president of the American Psychological Association in 1958-59.

This book chronicles his most famous experiments, in which he set up conditions where baby monkeys were left with "wire mothers" (a wire version of an adult monkey body) who had bottles and "cloth mothers" (models with soft features), and found that the babies would only go to the wire mother for food but otherwise remained with the cloth mother. This preference was especially pronounced if the baby was frightened. Harlow's experiments radically affected the growth and social abilities of his test subjects, sometimes resulting in monkeys who would become extremely depressed, psychotic, or simply socially inept. These experiments almost certainly would not be allowed today, but they did prove the large role nurturing, physical contact, and socialization had in development.

Wire Mothers was written by Jim Ottaviani, who has written a great number of scientifically themed graphic novels, including T-Minus, about the US-Soviet space race, and Dignified Science, about famous female scientists. He holds a number of masters degrees and formerly worked as a nuclear engineer. The art was provided by Dylan Meconis, an artist whose talents appear in an eclectic series of works, including Bite Me!, a story of vampires getting involved in the French Revolution, and Family Man, "a graphic novel about 18th century universities, religious doubt, and (eventually) werewolves." More information about Ottaviani and Meconis can be found in these interviews with the Comics Reporter and Comic Book Resources.

As in the past, Ottaviani's work is well reviewed. Star Hoffman called it "an absorbing work that is at once instructive, entertaining, and poignant." Colleen Mondor wrote that "It’s a great jumping off point for students" that "just might spark some actual interest in those poor souls." Johanna Draper Carlson loves Ottaviani's work and recommends the book.

A preview and study guide, among other resources, are available here from G.T. Labs.

T-Minus: The Race to the Moon

The race to put a man on the moon was one of the greatest competitions of the Cold War, and almost everyone is familiar with the end of contest and Neil Armstrong's famous speech from the lunar surface. What is not as well known is all of the hard work, calculations, and failures that preceded this great accomplishment. T-Minus captures many of the struggles that took place within both the US and the Soviet space programs beginning at T-minus 12 years before the first moon landing in 1969 (that would be 1957 for those of you who don't want to do the subtraction).

Movies like The Right Stuff and Apollo 13 show us the exploits of the astronauts, but they don't show as much about the engineers, technicians, and mathematicians who made space travel possible in the first place. Jim Ottaviani has almost cornered the market in terms of creating graphic novels about mathematics and scientists and here he shows just how much they contributed to the great success Armstrong eventually was celebrated for. However he does not give short shrift to the pilots and other space travelers. He paints a picture of them as people brave and capable enough to fly vehicles that were basically fancy projectiles.

This book contains a wealth of resources provided in an accessible manner. There is a time line of dates that runs parallel to the narrative, chronicling successful and failing launches. The important players in the story are identified clearly, credentials listed, and acronyms explained in footnotes. There is even a bibliography for further reading toward the end, neatly disguised as a newspaper page.

T-Minus would be a great resource for learning about Cold War positioning or aeronautic engineering. More information about the content of the book and Ottaviani's aims as an author can be found in this interview done by Tom Spurgeon. For all of the technical and historical information given, the narrative still flows well from moment to moment, capturing the wonder and spectacle of space travel as well as the tragic moments that often accompanied failure. Reviews online are frequently positive, noting the good blend between facts and drama, such as these by Ted Anderson and Jack Shafer.

The art is crisply presented in black and white. It was drawn by the Cannon brothers, Zander and Kevin, who are frequent Ottaviani collaborators. More about them can be seen at their blog Big Time Attic.

For more science-centered graphic novels, visit G.T. Labs, Ottaviani's official site.
On the T-Minus page, there are teacher resources, preview page links, and other links to space-related websites.