Background

A cartoon is a combination of caricature i.e. funny drawing and satire i.e. funny saying. A caricature is the distorted presentation of a person, type or action, which looks funny. The word caricature is derived from Italian verb ‘caricare’ which means to load or to surcharge with exaggerated details. Mosini was probably the first to use this term. Gian Lorenzo Bernini introduced the world ‘caricatura’ in France when he went there in 1665. Caricature was a product of renaissance and reformation emphasis on the importance of individual.

Satire is a humorous comment, which may be quite thought provoking.

Cartoon is a capsule version of any event involving the extreme economy of language. Cartoon is based on the wide acqaintance of the subject.

In the middle nineteenth century a monthly sheet of caricature began publishing in London in 1830. Famous cartoon magazine Punch got started publishing in 1841. Famous cartoon magazine College Humour was published in 1920’s and 1930’s. New Yorker began publishing in 1925.

Science and satire

A number of scientific journals viz. CHEMTECH (USA), TIBS (UK), New Scientist (UK), Science (USA) and many more are publishing science cartoons and also science comic strips. Current Content (USA) also publishes a cartoon almost in its every issue.

In India, R.K. Laxman the famous cartoonist of the Times of India has drawn a number of science cartoons which were published in Science Today for many years. A collection of his science cartoons are published in a book entitled ‘Science Smiles’. Sudhir Dar, another famous cartoonist, also touched science in his cartoons. Science Reporter is including science cartoons in its issues. Other magazines publishing science cartoons include Vigyan Pragati, Electronics for You, Bulletin of Sciences, etc.
 

Science through scientoons

Scientoons are a novel class of science cartoons which not only makes you laugh but also carries some scientific information, message or attracts your attention towards a problem in a thought provoking way. The term ‘Scientoon’ was coined by the author in 1988, while delivering a lecture on the topic ‘Development of drugs and pharmaceutical industry in developing countries’ in a conference held at the National University of Singapore. Royal Swedish Academy and Swedish National Committee for Science and Technology, which organised ‘32nd International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry Congress’ in 1989 at Stockholm, Sweden, accepted a research paper entitled ‘Scientoon’ for presentation at the congress. This paper explained that how scientoons can be used to educate the people about the various rules and phenomena of chemistry.

In 1990, the author started using scientoons for explaining and highlighting various environmental issues, concepts and problems. United Nations Environment Programme published a report on this novel approach in its Asia-Pacific Newsletter. Use of scientoons in lectures made the whole information interesting and easily understandable even for the people who did not have scientific background. Over 60 lectures have been delivered by the author to the varied audience like scientists, doctors, engineers, health workers, executives, police and army officers, students, botanists, etc. in India, Thailand, Singapore and USA.

In 1993, the author chose an important analytical technique ‘mass spectroscopy’ for delivering lectures using scientoons. This was a unique attempt to explain a highly technical subject in a very simple and interesting manner through scientoons.

Enjoying science

Scientoons have revolutionised the way science can be communicated by making complex and highly technical science subjects, simple and easily understandable. It is undoubtedly a great contribution towards communicating science by making science understandable and enjoyable to common man and experts alike. Scientoons hold a great future ahead and a science has a lot to promise to common man through scientooning to understand, enjoy science and inculcate scientific temper and generate mass interest in science.

References:

1. Encyclopaedia Britanica, Vol.3, pp. 909.

2. Science Smiles, IBH publishing House, Mumbai.

3. UNEP Newsletter, 8(2), April-June 1991.

4. Chemtech, 1991, American Chemical Society, USA.

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