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Tattoos For the Math and Science Geek?
An anonymous reader writes "I've been thinking of getting a sleeve of math and science tattoos for quite a while now. With the money saved up, the only question remaining is, what equations/ideas should I get? I know for certain that I'm going to include some of Maxwell's equations, and definitely Ohm's Law. So, if you were going to put a tribute to the great math and science minds on your body forever, which ones would you choose?"
Someone I know recently got a lambda tattooed on his finger. Now he can bind people into expressions just by raising his middle digit.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Think twice. Do you *really* think this will be so important to you forever?
0=e^(i*pi)+1
the preceding post was not spell checked... suck it.
Personally, I've always enjoyed the beauty of Euler's identity, any form of Gaussian (normal) distribution which has a standard form here and entropy in regards to information theory. Of course, these are just personal favorites -- the last two because I am a computer scientist with so much college work hinging on them. You probably have personal favorites in chemistry or physics or another field even. Honestly, the loan formula is probably one of the most widely used and life changing formulas in the United States today -- especially given the recent financial crisis. I think it would be best for you to draw up your own formulas in a geometric display rather than someone else's symbols. I suppose that would require extreme precision on the end of the artist and also introduce interesting problems with the elasticity of your skin ... but I'm one for originality especially if you're about to mark yourself in a relatively permanent way.
My work here is dung.
If you don't know what you want then just wait until you do. One of the worst things you can do for a tattoo is ask what other people think you should get. You'll end up with something that they want and it may be cool now but years down the road it won't mean anything to you.
Tattoo's are suppose to be for life. If it's something that you foresee down the road that you'll not be interested in and go "why did I ever do that, ugh that's so yesterday" it wasn't a very good idea.
-- Ed Bugg --You have freedom of choice, but not of consequences.--
It is better to tattoo P=NP, because you still can modify it later, if the opposite gets proven (just strike trough the equality symbol).
The coolest math tattoo you could get would be nothing at all. Just hold up your arm and say "it's the empty set" and have them marvel at your coolness.
Seriously, tattoos are lame. Resist the urge. It's going to be an ugly green smear you will regrat.
You definitely want Quaternions and Euler Angles:
The story behind Quaternions justifies permanent ink if any math theorem ever did: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternion
Cubum autem in duos cubos, aut quadratoquadratum in duos quadratoquadratos, et generaliter nullam in infinitum ultra quadratum potestatem in duos eiusdem nominis fas est dividere cuius rei demonstrationem mirabilem sane detexi. Hanc BRACCHIUMis exiguitas non caperet.
with one small change...
-Malakai
A Dragon Lives in my Garage
In the greek alphabet:
beta mu pi integral of e^x
which gives you
ButtSex
P=NP? die, heretic scum!
In Soviet Russia jokes are formulaic and decidedly non-humorous.
Tattoos hurt, they endanger your health, they are expensive, and most of all they are superficial. AKA they are for looks only.
Gee... At one time only drunk sailors thought this was a good idea and now you want to show how geeky you are with them?
Might I suggest Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica the full text of course.
Bazinga!
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Think of how dignified those tattoos will look when you age and your whole body looks like Reagan's neck. Do you really want to explain to your grandkids why you thought a math equation or Mighty Mouse or a kanji character that means "desk" was something that held enough meaning that it required you to permanently scar your body with it?
This applies to everyone who resolves to get a tattoo before deciding what it is of, btw.
With explanations too:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/category/science-tattoo-emporium/
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
I knew a guy who had the fallout symbol tattooed across his left shoulder blade,
maybe 4 inches across, in all its black and yellow glory.
I asked him why, but I don't recall his response.
He did allow that reading physics textbooks in coffee shops was a good way to pick up girls.
I like musicians who get the fermata symbol tattooed on their bodies. (Hold me.)
Best regards.
Come on, the math is simple here. There are six billion people on the planet right now. How many of them have tattoos already? The probability of you coming up with a tattoo that someone else doesn't already have is nearly zero.
In other words if you get a tattoo, someday later you'll meet someone else who has the same one, or someone who knows someone who has it. Then you'll realize that your attempt at "individuality" was a failure. At which point hopefully you went to a clean enough shop that you didn't pick up hepatitis in the process.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Get a full sleeve of the Mandelbrot set drawn with (literally) painstaking detail and accuracy. That should keep you and your tattoo artist busy for a while.
This sig has been stolen. Return it to its original user for a reward.
Forget the tattoo. Just stick with t-shirts from ThinkGeek or whatever like the rest of us do.
Someday when the anti-intellectual revolution comes and Sarah Palin is looking for some fresh necks for her guillotine (aka "Freedom Slicer"), your elitist tattoo will get you killed.
Am I joking? Sometimes I don't even know.
But then again, I'm an old coot that never got the tattoo thing.
And make sure no one has trademark rights to or a patent on the one you choose: don't use Ax=\lamda x or Match.com may sue your left shoulder.
This is my way of saying that although I declined to get my own tattoo, I'm glad that you're thinking of something intellectually worthy instead of getting an Apple, Inc tattoo or something else terribly impermanent. I actually read a b log post from a disgruntled "lifelong Mac user" who had recently switched to Ubuntu; he had an Apple tattoo.
not only will you be cooler than anybody who has a tattoo (its true!) - you can feel safe in the knowledge that your "individualism" cant be questioned. -0.
A guy that I once met had a tattoo of a Smith Chart. Smart RF guy. Definitely dedicated to the field. ;)
in the 90s I got a tattoo of the solar system on my back and brontosaurus tattoo on my chest. now both are incorrect :(
Are just a few ways that you could use that money to make a difference in science that will help others. When you die your tattoo will eventually rot away with the rest of your body. But if you sponsored something that helped science or math progress, people would know of you for some time.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
So the next time I see a sun tattoo between a girls shoulder blades it is safe to ask "Can I see Uranus"?
dumbkopf! F=mA is obviously a knuckle tattoo!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
This questions was actually Slashdot-worthy? Ya know, unlike a certain other board, Slashdot actually was good at some point in the past... But to answer the last question I'll ever answer here: tattoos are meant to be personal. If you have to ask someone else if/what you should get permanenly marked on your skin, you should probably not be considering getting a tattoo at all. Operating under the assumption that you'll go ahead with it, are there mathematical formulas and/or symbols that actually mean something to you on an emotional level? Those are what you should get. Seriously, though, don't take any answers from here. If you do, you'll be just like every other tattooed hipster douchebag trying to be socially ironic: permanently stamped with FAIL.
"You know you're narcissistic when you quote yourself in your sigs." -- PRoPAiN!
Don't get any tattoos. I can only name 2 people that I know that don't have something...
The older I get, the older that the "hip" crowd gets, and it just looks plain pathetic to be 30+ and have all these tattoos... Just think how bad the population is going to look 20 years from now - you'll have all these 40 yr olds that have way too much "ink" and you'll have none. I can't wait to be one of the very very few people who can say "I didn't get a tattoo because I wanted to be unique" at my 20 yr high school reunion.
Well, it's thousands of years old. At the moment, I would agree, it is a bit of a fad. But, again, in and of themselves, tattoos aren't the problem, it's bad choices on what to get, and where to get it. Admittedly, it's a lot more prevalent.
I actually understand what you're saying, I just don't understand the bile -- it's not like it has anything to do with you. Yes, I see kids getting their neck done, or getting the big ear-lobe thing, and I worry that in a few years those are going to be career-limiters. Because, even as someone involved with tattoo culture, there's certain things I am aware of will give the average person the willies.
When I show up in a suit, you don't see any ink. My eyebrow piercing is long gone, and nobody seems to even notice my earrings anymore. By choice, I don't have anything more extreme that is visible to anybody unless I want it to be.
Well, then 40% of Gen-X is about to look REAL dated. Probably a higher percentage of Gen-Next is well on their way to getting ink. And, shockingly, an increasing amount of boomers are getting inked.
Hell, I know school teachers with tattoos. Typically discrete things that would never actually be shown at school.
You're over-generalizing to all of the "in your face" (literally and figuratively) stuff that people get done, and extrapolating that everybody who has ever gotten a tattoo. Why you're venting this much spleen at the concept of tattoo is hard to guess.
Seriously, it's not your damned lawn, grandpa. Get over it.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Get tats of chicks with big boobs -- boobs can never, ever be proven wrong.
"I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
That's why you show up for a date bathed and with your teeth brushed.
Ohhhh...
Here's what Stephen Hawking has said he wants on his tombstone: S = (pi.A.k.c^3)/(2.h.G) It's the formula for the entropy of a black hole, also the maximum amount of entropy possible in a volume of space. It's interesting and extremely insightful into the nature of the universe because all the values on the right-hand-side are constants except for A (the area). So it says that the amount of entropy in a black hole, and also the maximum amount of entropy possible, is directly proportional to the surface area! This is very counter-intuitive and is related to the holographic principle.
Atheism is a religion to the same extent that not collecting stamps is a hobby.
You should tattoo pi * 1337%
My other account has a 3-digit UID.
Umm, no? He realizes that while he likes his tattoos not everyone shares his opinions?
I think my cock is awesome but I don't show up for a job interview in crotchless chaps.
The "no visible tattoo" policy is the antithesis of the 1st Amendment.
Please people, read the first amendment and try to understand it.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
It starts - and pay attention - "Congress shall make no law".
Do you see anywhere that Congress has made a law that says visible tattoos are bad?
This is a corporate policy. If you are hired, they are welcoming you in the door onto their property - on their terms. If they say you have to wear purple underwear to work here, guess what? YOU DO.
Employment is optional. Nobody has to give you a job. If they don't like your tattoos they don't have to hire you. It is really as simple as that. You have to do what the boss says - it's a job. It is not a right.
So back OT, to the guy who wants a sleeve of math equations, my advice would be DON'T. It's fun, it's nerdy, I can see the appeal. But you are limiting your options.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
he should get P=NP above the four knuckles of one hand, and the strike-through version on the other four knuckles
how many pairs of boxer shorts should you own?
People have that attitude that tattoos are easy to remove with lasers. But one also needs to remember that tattoos themselves are a wound - depending on the talent of the artist, wounds tend to scar. The ink my get lightened (removal is a bit of a misnomer); the laser breaks up the pigment molecule which is then removed through the body's lymphatic system.
Laser removal is also a long process, and generally is not a one time process either. Generally a person needs to go through a series of sessions, and depending on the color of the inks used, that are different wavelengths required for the requirements. Not all laser machines are created the same. Also hope that you don't have a lot of white (Titanium Dioxide) since that has a tendency to turn complete black when laser removal is done.
The lasers themselves also have the danger of creating scaring. So even though you might not have the ink there, you still can often see the scaring that is left.
Consider very carefully before getting a tattoo, and if you go into with the attitude that "Ohh, I can get it laser removed if I don't like it in the future" don't get one. There are so many factors that are very rarely considered.
I speak from observed experience, research and from attending educational seminars. My girlfriend owns a tattoo studio and also runs (executive director) an international tattoo association. I've learned far more about tattooing and the body modification industry than I ever wanted to know.
Laser is not the answer. Carefully consideration and placement are your best options.
Here is my rule for tattoos: Select the exact design and location you want to have. If you still want that exact design and location in ten years, then get it. Otherwise, or if you change the tattoo or its location even in some minute point within those ten years, the clock starts over.
I think my cock is awesome but I don't show up for a job interview in crotchless chaps.
Best. Analogy. Ever.
This is the most poignant question you've seen in a long time? Seriously?
Ok, look. Here's some wiki for you.
2,332,760 / 4,314,880 * 100% = 54%
54% of the arable land in North America is not utilized. If you want to live on a farm go do it. Uncle Sam will even help. But if you're totally punk rock and don't want to "be part of the machine", then go be Amish. They manage it pretty well.
The reason why nobody actually does this is because that way of life is stupefyingly difficult. Up before dawn to a full day of hard labor every single day.
Go spend a week on a real farm. Just a single week. I'm sure they'd be glad for the help. I'll bet you don't last two days. I doubt I would.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
By the gods, I wish that I had modpoints today. Protip: Don't argue against tattoos to the tattoo'd. They are maniacally pro-ink (and they MUST be! They'll be inked for the rest of their lives!). As the saying goes: If you have no tattoos, don't get any tattoos. If you HAVE tattoos, get MORE tattoos. It used to be that tattoos and body modifications were mostly used as a mechanism to show membership in a particular group. Nowadays, it seems that people get ink to show that they are a member of the "people who have ink" group. Not sure what to make of that, tempted to think "fad", just as you stated. I'm sure I'll be flamed for this, just like you were. I was a US Marine (am, I suppose. Once/Always, etc.) and I saw more young marines getting inked than NOT getting inked. They wanted to show that they were part of a group, that they belonged. I managed to avoid getting inked back then, and I figure if I didn't get inked in the Marines, then I might as well skip it going forward. I'm not against a tasteful tattoo on a man, think tattoos on women are gross, and think that all of the "people who judge me based on my tattoos are wrong." crowd are naive. People judge me based on my face and appearance all day long. As a people, we look at a face and body and make a snap decision about that person. It is how we've evolved to survive. and to be honest, I know that the in-your-face tattoo crowd are making snap judgements about my face when they see it, too.
Each processor would proceed sequentially as if it had been better for them not to rise against Saul.
You don't think that some ideas or symbols are worth marking your body with?
I have a tattoo of the symbol for infinity on the center of my back. Any T-shirt covers it up so 95% of the people I meet haven't seen it and don't even know I have ink. I got the tattoo after thinking of the idea and considering it for 1 or 2 years. My Dad took me to the artist who did all of his tattoos right after my high school graduation ceremony, and paid for it as a graduation present.
I got the tattoo because the concept of infinity is closely related to immortality, timelessness, and endless life. It's ironic to tattoo a symbol for timelessness on a mortal body that will eventually wither, die, and rot. Therefore the tattoo is a personal reminder to live life to the fullest because it doesn't last forever.
The tattoo is not a cheap joke. It's not a kitschy idea. I don't show it at parties to get a laugh out of people. It's a very personal reminder to be happy and enjoy life.
You're right that it's very important to consider that tattoos last for the rest of your life (but not forever), and that they will eventually fade and possibly be warped by the wrinkling and sagging of skin. It's important to think about a tattoo for a long time before getting it to make sure that you want it, and it's also important not to get a tattoo of some political or scientific position you have that might change in the future. A tattoo of a flower is simple and timeless; flowers will always represent life, love, and beauty, and the tattoo could mark some important life event (such as my high school graduation). A tattoo that says "Bush Sucks" or "Jesus Saves" might not be a good idea because you might not always feel that way.
So, in summary, some tattoos are indeed stupid, but the idea that getting a tattoo is inherently stupid is a stupid idea. I'm not worried about my tattoo fading or wrinkling because it's a tattoo about aging and death anyway; the whole point is that it won't be there forever. The next tattoo I'm going to get will simply read "no hope, no fear" and I've been sure that I want it for over a year.
Tattoos 50 years ago were about getting drunk while in the navy.
And don't forget: the reason why you did that back then was to prove what a Real Tough Man(TM) you were.
I'd love to see what those 70-year-old guys think now that half the teenage girls they see have more ink than they do. I knew a number of middle-aged guys thiry years ago who had got tattoos when they were twenty years younger, and they all felt kinda stupid about it then. By now they must feel unbelievably stupid, because they realize that what their younger selves considered a mark of manly toughness was no big deal, since virtually everyone has more than sufficient pain tolerance to get inked.
Tattooing as a practice has been around forever, usually as a means of expressing some aspect of social status, mostly among men. So while tattooing is certainly not a fad, the current "express your unique identity via a tattoo" certainly is, just as the "express how manly and tough you are" was.
Hopefully when this fad passes people will realize that tattooing is no big deal, one way or another. It can be useful for people struggling to express their identity, but it says mostly, "This person went through a time in their life when they were sufficiently uncertain of who they were that they felt the need to spend money and time and a trivial amount of pain on ensuring some aspect of who they thought they were at the moment would be emblazoned on their skin."
People who are secure in their identity don't need to do that. For some people who aren't secure in their identity it can genuinely help. For most, it's treating the symptom, not the cause, and that's rarely a good idea.
Blasphemy is a human right. Blasphemophobia kills.
I haven't read all the replies, but I'm surprised that so far I haven't heard any mention of the amazing mandelbrot set. That could make for an interesting background at the least. If I were to do it, it would likely be some mosaic of all the most interesting math I could find, with probably some overlay of mandelbrot and the golden number (like, many many of the digits closely-packed) as the background. It would certainly take some time (yes, for me, probably years) to figure out what the foreground would be. Very interesting and introspective-inducing post. Shame on all those who preach "no tattoo" to someone clearly interested in a tattoo.