Bob Howe writes, “In 1992, at age 34, I decided to get a tattoo. I’m a speculative fiction writer. I wanted something grounded in the natural world, that symbolized the connection between inner and outer space, and that was unequivocally male without being bellicose. I wanted something that wasn’t a momentary fad, that was timeless and eternal: I chose Jupiter. Two years later, Shoemaker-Levy 9 slammed into the face of the planet, altering it forever.”
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"Celebrated curiosity monger"
Carl Zimmer writes about science regularly for the New York Times and magazines such as Discover, where he is a contributing editor and columnist.
He is the author of twelve books, the most recent of which is Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed. His website is carlzimmer.com and his address is blog at carlzimmer dot com .
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January 30th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
The solar system is unequivocally male?
January 31st, 2009 at 10:33 am
Jupiter, in Roman mythology, is unequivocally male: no one said anything about the solar system having a gender, much less being male.
January 31st, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Bob, he said he wanted a tattoo that was “unequivocally male,” but he didn’t get a tattoo of the Roman god Jupiter, he got a tattoo of the planet. Meg’s question is perfectly reasonable.
January 31st, 2009 at 11:34 pm
And I’m not a careful enough reader. *You* got a tattoo of the planet. Heh.
But Meg’s question is still reasonable.