Abigail writes:
“My first year of college, I wanted to be an English major, and I took Intro Chemistry to fill the science requirement. The brief unit on thermodynamics made me fall totally in love. Entropy made sense to me - scientifically, philosophically. I became a Chemistry major and love every second of it. I got the tattoo to mark my rite of passage - Entropy going both ways, with its symble delta-S in the middle, all supported in the roots of Yggdrasil, the world-tree of Norse mythology (harking back to my English-lit days).”
August 18th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Abigail is my daughter. I was with her when she got this tattoo last March, several months after she turned 18, while she was attending Reed College in Portland. It was an adventure for both of us. She came home for the summer in May, and four days later was in a fatal car accident.
I will be getting this same tattoo next week - Abigail’s personal design - from the same artist. It will memorialize both my daughter and her intellect and passion for science and philosophy.
The world has lost an incredible mind. Thank you Mr. Zimmer for displaying this artwork and sharing it with visitors to this site.
August 19th, 2008 at 12:19 am
[…] April, a reader named Abigail sent in this tattoo, with the following description: My first year of college, I wanted to be an English major, and I took Intro Chemistry to fill the […]
August 29th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
I’m so sorry the ‘Requiem’ link above was broken. Some wonderful things were said … Abigail continues to be an inspiration to many, both at home and at college. What a blessing she was - and is.
August 29th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Strange that the link would be broken. But this should work:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2008/08/21/requiem/
I offer my condolences as well, as long as I’m posting this.