Chris Ware: World's Fair Advisory Board Nominee #2

Nominee #1: Karl Iagnemma
Nominee #2: Chris Ware

Well, it was great to finally meet Ben (and Janet, John, John, and Steve) a couple weeks ago, when there was a PSA/HSS/4S conference in Vancouver. Ben and I had a chance to talk about science, writing, academia, the election, life, unicorns, the usual sorts of things, and during which, Ben set me on track with the idea of forming the World's Fair Advisory Board.

Anyway, I'd like to nominate Chris Ware, because I think it would be wonderful to play with someone who can elicit so much from the combination of calculated imagery and sparce text - precise (so precise) though that combination may be.

I think this would be a good choice, because one would presume that in our goal of attaining pervasive science communication, the use of only text and science academia is not enough. Why not let in an individual whose work can literally mesmerize on first glance?

Here's a sampling of his work, from Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth (*, *, *). And this too (a cover for the Virginia Quarterly Review -your neck of the woods, Ben).

Plus, there's more: Chris kindly let me reprint the above "Butterfly" comic for the Science Creative Quarterly, whereupon I learnt that he's not too many degrees of Kevin Bacon away from science education, after all.

One degree actually, since his wife is a biology teacher.

(Also, Check out a series of New Yorker covers, soon to be out on Thanksgiving. The first cover (single large panel), just about floored me in its power) link