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Skepticality

The Official Podcast of Skeptic Magazine

Skeptic readers may suspect that there's little to interest them in the pages of most graphic novels, dominated as they are by superheroes and the supernatural. However, a new generation of authors and artists are hard at work creating comics rooted in science fact — and even critical thinking. This week Skepticality welcomes back Jim Ottaviani: nuclear engineer, librarian, lead author for GT Labs (which produces graphic novels about the history of science and prominent scientists). Swoopy talks with Jim about his most recent published works, T-Minus: The Race to the Moon; Wire Mothers: Harry Harlow and the Science of Love; and, of special interest to skeptics, The Science of the Unscientific: Levitation: Physics and Psychology in the Service of Deception.
Show Notes
 

Date – May 25th, 2010 read by Derek.

Our last show with Artichoke has us singing about Iguanas.
Tim Farley has this week's Skeptic History.
On May 28, 2009 Wikipedia banned Scientology & its critics from editing.
The arbitration report on Wikipedia tells a sordid tale of edit wars and more.
Thales of Miletus predicted an solar eclipse May 28, 585 BC and has been
dubbed the Father of Science.
The Flexner Report (published in early June 1910) had a huge influence
on how doctors were trained in North America for years afterward.
You can read The Flexner Report online at the Carnegie website.
You can read daily Skeptic History facts on Twitter, Facebook and FriendFeed.
Today's guest is Jim Ottaviani – creator of GT Labs.
GT Labs produces graphic novels featuring biographies of scientists and science history.
Past work from Jim and GT Labs includes:
Two Fisted Science, Dignifying Science, Fallout, Suspended in Language and
Bone Sharps, Cowboys and Thunder Lizards.
Jim's day job is librarian at University of Michigan Library as coordinator of Deep Blue.
One of the new series from GT Labs is about the Science of the Unscientific.
Levitation is about the physical and psychological aspects of stage magic.
Levitation profiles iconic American stage magicians Harry Keller and Howard Thurston.
The "Levi" used to perform the famous trick was invented by John Nevil Maskelyn.
Wire Mothers tells the story of psychologist Harry Harlow.
Harlow performed ground breaking social isolation experiments on rhesus monkeys.
The title comes from the wire form of a mother monkey used in the experiments.
Wire Mothers was illustrated by Dylan Meconis who wrote the Vampire Farce, Bite Me.
Jim's most recent publication is T Minus: The Race to the Moon about the Space Race.
The Admiral that gave the go ahead to pick up the Apollo 8 astronauts after splashdown
was Admiral John S. McCain Sr.
Upcoming works will include a book on primatologists Fossey, Goodall and Galdikas.
An online series for Tor.com will be about Alan Turing.
And finally there will be a new book about Richard Feynman.
You can find out more about GT Labs at this website.
You can also read Jim's blog here.



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