Amanda Bongers

naturegraphics:

BETTER TOGETHER

Background: To solve the grand challenges facing society — energy, water, climate, food, health — scientists and social scientists must work together. The prevailing term for this is interdisciplinarity. In this week’s special issue we take a closer look at that ideal versus reality. For instance, there is evidence that research that transcends conventional academic boundaries is harder to fund, do, review and publish — and those who attempt it struggle for recognition and advancement. The issue examines what governments, funders, journals, universities and academics must do to make interdisciplinary work thrive.

(For a primer on the current state of interdisciplinarity, check out our infographic that charts trends by country and discipline.)

Design challenge: While our special issue does not shy away from the current issues and controversies around interdisciplinary research, we do ultimately believe in our ability as a research community to solve our biggest challenges by working together. As such, we needed art for the issue that would mirror this message by visualizing the ideal we are supporting.

What better way to show that ideal – an interdisciplinary team of specialists working together for the greater good – than in a superhero comic style? We decided to put together a dream team of science and social science archetypes on the cover – a nod to the notion of an ideal, but equally so it’s a nod to our belief in the profound results such collaborations could yield.

We enlisted comic artist Dean Trippe to create heroes representing talents across various disciplines. He imagined the team with amazing attention to detail, from the Invisible Hand representing economics to Control-X, a data scientist. The character names and costumes are true to the best of classic comic style, with the occasional homage. (Can you spot them?)

We had a lot of fun making this one, but it did create a lot of questions for us along the way, particularly with regard to representing ideal forms that are intended to stand in for the real world. The bodies of superheroes are superior to even elite athletes – what does that mean for a woman’s form? Would it look sexist? Or what about age? Or race? We did our best to balance these concerns while keeping to a pure comic style. (Any departure from the classic style would have produced an unintended whiff of parody.)

Fans of comics will, I hope, welcome this cover, while others might be turned off by it, thinking comics childish or unsophisticated. Dean and I had some good conversations along the way while creating this one. He is a strong advocate of the positive force of comics to reach adults in a unique way, as can be found here. Bias against comics persists for various reasons - there is a history of sexism for sure - but the medium is gaining ground as feminist heroes and other sophisticated comic forms take shape.

PS. Please join the fun by sharing which #sciencesuperhero you are (or perhaps suggest who we could add to the cover team). Your sketches encouraged!

-Kelly Krause

Designer Vaccine | Magnetic Crab | Deep Heating | Quantum Heating | Not All Neurons Are Alike | Better Contact Along the Edge | Prairie Redux | First Defense | The Good Scar | Wiring the Retina | Dinner Time! | Information Physics | Imaging Hydrogen Bonds | Chilly Repression Stalls Flowering | Coherently Controlling Large Cats

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