Graphic Science

Much is known about scientists such as Darwin, Newton, and Einstein, but what about lesser known scientists - people who have not achieved a high level of fame, but who have contributed greatly to human knowledge? What were their lives like? What were their struggles, aims, successes, and failures? How do their discoveries fit into the bigger picture of science as a whole? Overlooked, sidelined, excluded, discredited: key figures in scientific discovery come and take their bow in an alternative Nobel prize gallery.Antoine Lavoisier: the father of French chemistry who gave oxygen its name, Lavoisier was a wealthy man who found himself on the wrong side of a revolution and paid the price with his life.Mary Anning: a poor, working-class woman who made her living fossil-hunting along the beach cliffs of southern England. Anning found herself excluded from the scientific community because of her gender and social class. Wealthy, male, experts took credit for her discoveries.George Washington Carver: born a slave, Carver become one of the most prominent botanists of his time, as well as a teacher at the Tuskegee Institute. Carver devised over 100 products using one major ingredient - the peanut - including dyes, plastics and gasoline.Alfred Wegener: a German meteorologist, balloonist, and arctic explorer, his theory of continental drift was derided by other scientists and was only accepted into mainstream thinking after his death. He died in Greenland on an expedition, his body lost in the ice and snow.Nikola Tesla: a Serbian American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. A competitor of Edison, Tesla died in poverty despite his intellectual brilliance.Jocelyn Bell Burnell: a Northern Irish astrophysicist. As a postgraduate student, she discovered the first radio pulsars (supernova remnants) while studying and advised by her thesis supervisor Antony Hewish, for which Hewish shared the Nobel Prize in physics while Bell Burnell was excluded.Fred Hoyle: an English astronomer noted primarily for the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis - the process whereby most of the elements on the Periodic Table are created. He was also noted for the controversial positions he held on a wide range of scientific issues, often in direct opposition to prevailing theories. This eccentric approach contributed to him to being overlooked by the Nobel Prize committee for his stellar nucleosynthesis work.Any one of these figures could have been awarded a Nobel prize. Not every scientific discoverer was lauded in their time, for reasons of gender, race, or lack of wealth, or (in the case of Lavoisier) being too wealthy: in the 21st century, there are many more reparations and reputations to be made.

“'Very readable, and the illustrations and explanations made me feel I actually understood some of the science facts they were talking about. Check this book out if you want to see how we learnt so much about science... Or glimpse a small cameo from a Trump ancestor, or learn about the scientist who thought the 1918 Spanish Flu was an extra-terrestrial disease.' - NZ Bookworm, Bookstagrammer 'Delivers an insight into science your standard physics textbook never would.' - Disclaimer 'A series of inspiring portraits...' - The Observer: Rachel Cooke's best graphic novels of 2017 'Darryl Cunningham returns to educate and entertain us in equal measure...Not only is Darryl detailing these scientists' seven individual journeys of discovery, but he's also providing us all with seven journeys of discovery of our own to engage upon.' - Jonathan Rigby, Page 45 'Comicbook of the month' 'Simply drawn... Evocative accounts.' - Kevin Gopal, The Big Issue in the North 'An essential purchase... Darryl Cunningham's non-fiction work is undoubtedly some of the most crucially important practice to have emerged in UK comics in the last decade.' - Andy Oliver, Broken Frontier, Comic of the Week 'A rich, rewarding, fascinating and warmly personable view into some of those who, often against the odds, have added fuel to the shining beacon of learning and knowledge which has helped defined our species, our place in the world, our understanding of that world and the vast cosmos around us. A wonderful read.' - Joe Gordon, Forbidden Planet 'This is not just mind-blowing, complex scientific discovery made accessible, but made absolutely riveting. Daryl Cunningham brings to life the lives and often troubled and tortuous circumstances of those who have made some of the greatest scientific discoveries in history. His graphic narrative style is unparalleled - as with all his books, he breathes fire and soul into the big ideas that dominate human understanding.' - Jamie Kelsey-Fry 'Darryl Cunningham's simplicity of style is deceptive. I never fail to learn from his work, always educational and deeply human too. This is the sort of book you think you have bought for your child, then refuse to give up until you have finished it first. Buy two copies to be on the safe side.' - Robin Ince 'In a time when the scientific enterprise itself is under attack by self-serving, know-nothing yahoos, it's good to be reminded of the scientist's virtues: careful observation, patience, and depth of thought--the same combination that Cunningham brings to his work.' - Larry Gonick”

Darryl Cunningham's simplicity of style is deceptive. I never fail to learn from his work, always educational and deeply human too. This is the sort of book you think you have bought for your child, then refuse to give up until you have finished it first. Buy two copies to be on the safe side.' ROBIN INCE;Darryl Cunningham's restricted color palette and elegant design make his histories of science irresistible. Behind the artist lurks a diligent historian, whose judicious use of facts and evidence mirrors that of the scientists whose stories he so compellingly relates. In a time when the scientific enterprise itself is under attack by self-serving, know-nothing yahoos, it's good to be reminded of the scientist's virtues: careful observation, patience, and depth of thought-the same combination that Cunningham brings to his work.' LARRY GONICK

Darryl Cunningham studied at Leeds College of Art and lives in Yorkshire. He is now a full-time cartoonist, but he has also worked as a health care assistant on an acute psychiatric ward which informed and inspired his acclaimed first book of factually-based comics, Psychiatric Tales (Blank Slate, 2010). His second book of graphic journalism, an explanation of climate change, the moon landing, evolution and other subjects, Science Tales, published by Myriad in 2012, was shortlisted in the Best Book category at the British Comics Awards 2012. His graphic investigative book, Supercrash: How to Hijack the Global Economy, was published to acclaim by Myriad in October 2014, won the `Best Writer - Independent' category at the Broken Frontier Awards 2014, and was on the New York Times Bestseller list when published in 2015 by Abrams as The Age of Selfishness. His work is published in The Art of Saving a Life, a global resource by renowned artists to encourage vaccination, sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Much is known about scientists such as Darwin, Newton, and Einstein, but what about lesser-known scientists - people who have not achieved a high level of fame, but who have contributed greatly to human knowledge? What were their lives like? What were their struggles, aims, successes, and failures? How do their discoveries fit into the bigger picture of science as a whole? Overlooked, sidelined, excluded, discredited: key figures in scientific discovery come and take their bow in an alternative Nobel-prize gallery in a colourful novel by Darryl Cunningham . Antoine Lavoisier : the father of French chemistry who gave oxygen its name, Lavoisier was a wealthy man who found himself on the wrong side of a revolution and paid the price with his life. Mary Anning : a poor, working-class woman who made her living fossil-hunting along the beach cliffs of southern England. Anning found herself excluded from the scientific community because of her gender and social class. Wealthy, male, experts took credit for her discoveries. George Washington Carver : born a slave, Carver become one of the most prominent botanists of his time, as well as a teacher at the Tuskegee Institute. Carver devised over 100 products using one major ingredient - the peanut - including dyes, plastics and gasoline. Alfred Wegener : a German meteorologist, balloonist, and arctic explorer, his theory of continental drift was derided by other scientists and was only accepted into mainstream thinking after his death. He died in Greenland on an expedition, his body lost in the ice and snow. Nikola Tesla : a Serbian American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. A competitor of Edison, Tesla died in poverty despite his intellectual brilliance. Jocelyn Bell Burnell: a Northern Irish astrophysicist. As a postgraduate student, she discovered the first radio pulsars (supernova remnants) while studying and advised by her thesis supervisor Antony Hewish, for which Hewish shared the Nobel Prize in physics while Bell Burnell was excluded. Fred Hoyle: an English astronomer noted primarily for the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis - the process whereby most of the elements on the Periodic Table are created. He was also noted for the controversial positions he held on a wide range of scientific issues, often in direct opposition to prevailing theories. This eccentric approach contributed to him being overlooked by the Nobel Prize committee for his stellar nucleosynthesis work. Any one of these figures could have been awarded a Nobel prize. Not every scientific discoverer was lauded in their time, for reasons of gender, race, or lack of wealth, or (in the case of Lavoisier) being too wealthy: in the 21st century, there are many more reparations and reputations to be made. Darryl Cunningham is also the author of Supercrash , Science Tales and Billionaires .

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