Math/Physics Tattoo Idea Request - Warren

[chroot]

Hey guys,

I had an idea a long time ago for a tattoo involving some kind of math or physics symbolism that I would actually like to have... and then promptly forgot what it was. Years later, I still cannot remember the idea for the life of me. (Apparently it wasn't really that good?)

So, I'm appealing to the rest of you for ideas. Here are the requirements:

1) It needs to look, at least on a first glance, to be nothing more than an abstract artistic design. I don't want people to look at it and go "what a dork, he has an equation on his arm." I know a good artist can "abstractify" almost anything, but I'd prefer a genuinely artistic-looking subject rather than something simply dressed up to look artistic.

2) It needs to be relatively small. I don't want some sprawling design. Something that would fit comfortably in a 3" x 3" square would be great.

3) I don't want any large patches of any solid color.

4) I don't want anything overly pictorial or diagrammatic. No plots or fractals or otherwise photographic-type images.

5) I want it to be something can genuinely be explained to another person who is not a physicist. This means no equations from the bowels of m-theory that even I won't understand.

Any ideas?

- Warren

 

[B. Elliott]

possibly something like a Calabi-Yau manifold or a Mobius strip?

 

[matthyaouw]

http://www.bmezine.com/news/pubring/20040720/yoshi.jpg
Something like this?

http://www.bmezine.com/news/pubring/20040720.html#science

 

[chroot]

possibly something like a Calabi-Yau manifold or a Mobius strip?

Hmmm, good idea. A decorative, prettied-up Mobius strip might look quite good.

- Warren

 

[Kurdt]

Nothing like this then:

http://www.evilbrainjono.net/images/tattoo.jpg



EDIT: beaten to it

 

[zoobyshoe]

The coolness of the tattoo will depend completely on the artist's particular rendering of it so just pick your favorite, and one you don't mind explaining over and over, and let him unleash his imagination. F=ma, for example, would make a great tattoo, or not, completely depending on how it's rendered.

 

[chroot]

The coolness of the tattoo will depend completely on the artist's particular rendering of it so just pick your favorite, and one you don't mind explaining over and over, and let him unleash his imagination. F=ma, for example, would make a great tattoo, or not, completely depending on how it's rendered.

Yeah, I don't really know anything about the artistic process. From what I can tell, most people walk into shops and have the artist design something, but then they almost always accept whatever the artist comes up with. I can personally imagine myself rejecting quite a few designs. (I assume you still pay the artist for time either way.)

- Warren

 

[Kurdt]

I like the mandelbrot set one. Quite a good tattooist to get that down.

 

[chroot]

I like the mandelbrot set one. Quite a good tattooist to get that down.

Of course, I would demand infinitely small features.

- Warren

 

[Kurdt]

Now that would be a party piece if you could keep magnifying infinitely.

 

[Cyrus]

Please no, don't fall into this tattoo craze Chroot!

 

[chroot]

cyrus,

I honestly doubt that I will. I have never come across anything so deeply personally meaningful that I want to have it permanently stenciled on my skin. I suppose if I ever come across an idea or design that just screams "that's me," and I still think so a few weeks later, I might be tempted, though.

And no, Maxwell's equations are pretty much right out!

- Warren

 

[radou]

Please no, don't fall into this tattoo craze Chroot!

Yeah, I second that.

Btw, I think I'd rather wear a nazi tatoo then some kind of science-related tatoo, if one pointed a gun at my head and forced me to choose.

 

[ranger]

Nothing like this then:

http://www.evilbrainjono.net/images/tattoo.jpg



EDIT: beaten to it

Is that yours Kurdt?

The next thing chroot would be asking is where to get a piercing

 

[Cyrus]

I honestly find almost all tattoos to be ugly. The only one that I really like is the tribal samoan artwork. I saw on TV that you get them when you enter manhood and become the captain of a boat. (Boat being a small wood canoe).

http://www.nonusamoa.com/images/back.jpg

I think these are nice because they have real meaning to them. There not barb wire or some cheap thing on a girls lower back. I think these tattoos are nice, provided that your a samoan.

 

[ranger]

I think these are nice because they have real meaning to them. There not barb wire or some cheap think on a girls lower back. I think these tattoos are nice, provided that your a samoan.

Well said, Cyrus.

 

[Moonbear]

It's not math or physics, but I thought the DNA monster shown here was pretty cool...a creative twist on a boring old theme.

http://scienceblogs.com/loom/2007/08/08/welcome_to_sciencetattoocom.php

 

[chroot]

I think these tattoos are nice, provided that your a samoan.

So all I have to do is work on becoming samoan?

- Warren

 

[Cyrus]

Well, I mean I see people getting tattoos left and right and the only reason I can think why is because all their friends have one. But I really don't see why anyone would have the need to put something on their body like that if its not part of their custom/culture. I see very very very few people with nice tattoos. Id honestly say that 90% of them look bad- really bad.

 

[Moridin]

It's not math or physics, but I thought the DNA monster shown here was pretty cool...a creative twist on a boring old theme.

http://scienceblogs.com/loom/2007/08/08/welcome_to_sciencetattoocom.php

http://scienceblogs.com/loom/2007/08/06/branded_with_science.php

I like the Darwin fish and periodic table on your arm. Wonder if that would be cheating on a test?

 

[robphy]

Well... how about something like ... um... a light cone?
... a section of a plane electromagnetic wave [showing the E and B fields]?
... a hypercube?

 

[moe darklight]

Get Gallileo's face tattooed on your face. That is sure to spark conversations and provide excellent opportunities to educate people.

how about the ubiquitous light refraction triangle, only have the corresponding wave length written on each color, or something like that. I think that'd be pretty neat.

EDIT:

Well... how about something like ... um... a light cone?
... a section of a plane electromagnetic wave [showing the E and B fields]?
... a hypercube?

ah! you beat me to it!

 

[Kurdt]

Is that yours Kurdt?

The next thing chroot would be asking is where to get a piercing

No its not mine. I would never be that nerdy.

 

[chroot]

I see very very very few people with nice tattoos. Id honestly say that 90% of them look bad- really bad.

I totally agree. I've seen people with sharks that look like they were drawn by children. I've seen people with letters that aren't straight, etc. That's why I think I'm the sort of person who would turn down numerous designs before actually getting one put on me.

Oh, another requirement: no large areas of solid colors. I think they look bad. I would prefer something more akin to line art. I'm thinking something in the line of stylized mathematical blackboard symbols, perhaps.

- Warren

 

[Kurdt]

I think these are nice because they have real meaning to them. There not barb wire or some cheap thing on a girls lower back. I think these tattoos are nice, provided that your a samoan.

I think most tattoos mean something to the people that get them even if they mean nothing to you. Its the individuals choice to adorn their body with whatever they wish and its not just a social compliance thing.

 

[chroot]

Well... how about something like ... um... a light cone?
... a section of a plane electromagnetic wave [showing the E and B fields]?
... a hypercube?

People would mistake a light cone for a funnel or an hourglass. The EM wave would be a little too plain, though maybe something with a sinus shape would look nice. I think I just like curved lines. I'd prefer to avoid "pictorial" tattoos, like the DNA monster or the Mandelbrot set, in favor of symbols with clean, simple lines.

- Warren

 

[Cyrus]

I could see a tattoo of your frat done nice, or a family crest or something like that.

I had a friend who just graduated who had lots of tattoos, but the one I like the most was on his inner bicpet. It was the indian with a bow and arrow that used to come in a tootsie roll done in blue. I thought it was interesting and nice.

 

[chroot]

BTW, lest I sound too pessimistic -- I do appreciate all your suggestions! I'm just picky.

- Warren

 

[Cyrus]

You damn well better be, that thing ant going away!

Get some on your eye lids and fingers that say something like LIVE \DIE on each side

Oh, and get the tattooed tear on the corner of your eye too.


Also, I could understand if your an old white guy with a big santa clause beard and a harley and sunglasses.

 

[chroot]

It was the indian with a bow and arrow that used to come in a tootsie roll done in blue. I thought it was interesting and nice.

Surprisingly, I thought that would be exactly the kind of tattoo you'd hate.

- Warren

 

[robphy]

How about the magnetic field lines of the earth, a loop, or a bar magnet?
http://images.google.com/images?&q=magnetic+field+lines
(FYI: some cool animations at http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/teal_tour.htm )

Here's a place you can shop for curves
http://xahlee.org/SpecialPlaneCurves_dir/specialPlaneCurves.html
(EDIT: How about a Lissajous figure?)

How about a conic section and either its reflection property or something?

 

[Cyrus]

Well, it looked nice because it was thin. It was like the outline of an indian wearing a feather hat with a bow and arrow extended infront of him about to shoot. It was like the outline of a real indian, not a comic character and it was all blue and done rather thin so it did not look stupid. It wasnt bad because it was original and nice.

 

[chroot]

How about the magnetic field lines of the earth, a loop, or a bar magnet?

Thanks for the suggestions, robphy, but I don't think I could do anything pictorial and busy like that. The tattoos I tend to like best on other people are simple line art, symbolic, with sinuous, solid, bold black lines.

- Warrren

 

[gabee]

E8.

Get ready for pain.

 

[Cyrus]

Here, I drew it up over an image I found. It looks almost exactly like this:

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/7066/tattoomn5.png

The difference is that the front of the bow makes up the radius of the front of the circle. I couldn't get it to do that with the picture I found. So you can think of the rest of the circle extending back from the ends of the bow around the indian man.

 

[chroot]

Blarg.

- Warren

 

[zoobyshoe]

Blarg.

- Warren

Blarg? Where did I just recently read someone using that expression...

 

[berkeman]

You damn well better be, that thing ant going away!

Actually they have a new ink now that can be erased with just one laser treatment. Pretty interesting technology -- I caught a piece about it on the national TV news a couple nights ago.

chroot -- I agree that a fractal theme could be a good approach. Especially if it were one that had some extra scientific meanings. Like how a coastline is often fractal in shape, or how fractal antennas can be used for some unique applications. I know that the infinite resolution thing is a problem, but in a 3"x3" tattoo, you could still probably get a reasonable number of levels of recursion.

What kind of fractals do you like the best? Check out the blue fractal rose!

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=fractals&gbv=2


.

 

[chroot]

Good lord. I don't want anything pictorial. I've said it at least five times now!

- Warren

 

[berkeman]

Good lord. I don't want anything pictorial. I've said it at least five times now!

- Warren

You didn't like the rose?!

 

[Moonbear]

Well, I mean I see people getting tattoos left and right and the only reason I can think why is because all their friends have one.

Yes, many get it for those reasons. The ever-appearing flowers and birds stretched across women's lower backs, for example. Purely decorative and not meaningful.

But I really don't see why anyone would have the need to put something on their body like that if its not part of their custom/culture.

And how common does it have to be to be considered part of their custom/culture? It seems that's very much the case right now, that it has become part of American youth culture to have tattoos.

I see very very very few people with nice tattoos. Id honestly say that 90% of them look bad- really bad.

The only thing that matters is that they like them (and you never know...it's possible they think they look really bad too after getting them while drunk one night at some cheap tattoo parlor across from the bar). Though, I share the opinion that if you're going to permanently affix a marking onto your body, you better really be sure it's something meaningful or good-looking enough that you'll still like it and not regret it 20, 30, 40 or 50 years down the road. I think you also have to consider how body shapes change with age, and choose carefully. That cute rose on a young woman's breast is not going to be cute when she has breastfed 2 children and is in her 50s, and it's more of a pink blur. Placement of the tattoo is just as important as what the tattoo is. If you're not totally sure, don't do it.

If you do find something you really think is the most clever, meaningful idea ever, and after giving it some time contemplating it, you still think it's a good idea, are there people who will make custom, temporary tattoos? Something so you can "try it on for size" before committing to it...see how people react, if you enjoy the reactions, or get tired of explaining after a week, or thought you liked the idea, but realize it's too big, or the wrong place, or too detailed, or not enough detail, etc.

 

[Cyrus]

My friend I play cards with is an ex-marine sniper who went to Iraq and Afghanistan. He got drunk with his buddies and got a bulldog tattoo that looks horrible and he hates it.

I don't think tattoos are a culture as much as its just a fad going on right now.

Ive seen a woman with a tattoo on her breast - its disgusting. Talk about trailer trash looking.

 

[mgb_phys]

Here is a useful one http://screwdecaf.cx/forearm-ruler.html or perhaps;
A map of our position in the Virgo Supercluster would be useful if you ever got REALLY lost. Or you DNA sequence in case you need really advanced hospital treatment.
Remember tattoos are permanent so pi probably isn't a good idea, suppose it changes - then you would really look stupid.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I think this could be made into a cool tattoo:


E=½mv²
or
E_k=½mv²

 

[Cyrus]

Here is a useful one http://screwdecaf.cx/forearm-ruler.html or perhaps;
A map of our position in the Virgo Supercluster would be useful if you ever got REALLY lost. Or you DNA sequence in case you need really advanced hospital treatment.
Remember tattoos are permanent so pi probably isn't a good idea, suppose it changes - then you would really look stupid.

Thats one UGLYYYYYYYY tattoo.



E=mc^2

Everyone has seen that one, but its geeky and cliche.

 

[Kurdt]

that reminds me zooby of:

E=XT^c

contemporary and physicsy.

I really need to come up with a serious contender. I am thinking honest.

 

[dlgoff]

I was wondering. Do you really need an artist? Couldn't you design something yourself; create a computer file suitable for a numeric controlled tatoo machine?

 

[Kurdt]

A lot of people design their own tattoos yes. Unfortunately the tattoo robot hasn't been invented yet.

 

[robphy]

A lot of people design their own tattoos yes. Unfortunately the tattoo robot hasn't been invented yet.

Kurt, the tattoo-robot
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/006910.php

http://renfah.sonance.net/underror/KURT/KURT.PDF

 

[zoobyshoe]

I was wondering. Do you really need an artist? Couldn't you design something yourself; create a computer file suitable for a numeric controlled tatoo machine?

I don't know about the tattoo robot, but he certainly could photoshop a design to be applied by a tattoo artist.