Comics about mathematics, science, and the student life.

Obsessed

A scientist works at her desk, with a huge wastebin of failed ideas behind her. A friend asks, "Can't you just let this go?" She answers, "But I *need* to understand this!"

“I’ll join you as soon as I figure this thing out as completely and exhaustively as I can.”

24 Feb 2023

Light Reading

The group leader approaches a new student with a wheelbarrow filled with papers. He tells her, "Welcome to the group! Here's some light reading."

By “light”, I’m referring to the weight of the paper, not how easy the texts are to read.

22 Feb 2023

Jargon Absorption Coefficient

A one dimensional line labeled "Jargon Absorption Coefficient (words/min)", increasing to the right. On the left are kids, then your parents who can absorb a bit more, then scientists, and finally, pseudoscientists.

After the pseudoscientists, you get people who only speak in buzzwords.

20 Feb 2023

Reacting

A graph of "Time spent reacting" versus "Saying 'yes'". The curve is positive and linear.

There’s a time and a place to feel like you’re clinging to a piece of driftwood in a turbulent sea. The time is never and the place is the sea.

17 Feb 2023

Slide Difficulty

Left panel (Caption: Making slides): A scientist sits at their desk, working on their laptop. They say, "Oh, they'll all think this is too easy." Right panel (Caption: Presenting): The scientist is on stage with their slides. The audience is watching and thinking, "Why are they going so fast?"

The curse of expertise: Your “easy” slides are often the only ones that will stick in the mind of listener. So don’t rush through them!

15 Feb 2023

Learning Hill

Left panel (Caption: What we want learning to be like): A person walks up a uniform incline while saying, "Smooth and steady!" Right panel (Caption: In reality): A person stares up at the craggy path, filled with deep gouges and sharp edges. She's holding her hands on her hips and says, "Well."

Nothing makes you appreciate the journey of learning than many twists and scrapes!

13 Feb 2023

Head Space

Graph of "Having fun" versus "Getting outside your own head". The graph is positive and linear.

Optional but helpful ingredient: Be with others.

10 Feb 2023

Pop

A person rides in a hot air balloon with the label "Uplifting Feedback". An arrow is flying through the air towards the balloon, with the label, "One small piece of negative feedback."

No matter how uplifting the balloon is, one arrow is enough to bring it down.

08 Feb 2023

Scientific Careers

A large blob representing the space of scientific careers. A small box inside has the label "Scientists", and within it, a student says, "But if I'm not a scientist, I will have to leave science!"

It’s so incredible to me that the conventional path into science that many students see is one of being a researcher, though there are many other roles.

06 Feb 2023

Calculable

A graph of "Ease of calculating a defined quantity" versus "How abstract a paper is". As abstractness increases, the function curves downwards and eventually plummets to zero.

“Oh, this quantity in the summary looks like the perfect thing I need for my project!”

(Reads paper more carefully and gets lost in the mathematics.)

“And…maybe this isn’t so useful.”

03 Feb 2023