Artist’s interpretation of Agata Staniewicz’s July 2015 tweet. JIM JOURDANELast August, the hashtag #FieldworkFail set Twitter abuzz with tales of scientists’ mishaps in the field—from accidentally inhaling a fossil to gluing oneself to a vicious predator. Now, illustrator Jim Jourdane plans to immortalize these stories in a book called Fieldwork Fail: The Messy Side of Science.
“It’s important to talk about failures,” said Jourdane, “it’s kind of humanizing science.”
Jourdane has spent the last few months illustrating scientists’ stories on his blog, and plans to turn those into a book he will self-publish. The book will include an illustration of each scientific blooper he has chosen to feature, as well as some facts about the associated science.
“I had very positive feedback from scientists on Twitter,” Jourdane said.
The book will feature stories submitted by Agata Staniewicz, a biologist at the University of Bristol, U.K., who accidentally glued herself to a crocodile while attaching a radio transmitter; and by Jeff Stratford, a biologist at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania, who released a goldfinch named “Mr. Flappy” in front of two dozen schoolchildren, ...
