I Could Really Fall for a Girl with a Philosopher's Stone Tattoo

This is how the Emporium was born.

Last summer I was at a pool party where a friend, Bob Datta, was bobbing around in the water with his kids. Datta is a post-doc at Columbia, where he studies genes in Drosophila flies. I noticed that Bob had a tattoo of DNA on his shoulder. At first I thought it was a generic snippet of the molecule, but then Bob told me that it actually represents, in the genetic code, his wife's initials: EEE. Geek love in its noblest form.

Bob's tatoo reminded me that I have seen other scientists festooned with their science. There was the mycologist whose arms were covered with a black mesh, which he explained to me was subterranean network of threads produced by the death cap mushroom. And then there was the developmental biologist whose arm is swathed in the image of the fish he studies. (He declined my request for a photo of the tattoo until he gets tenure.)

So I wondered—had I bumped into the tip of a vast hidden iceberg, or do I just happen to know the few scientists with tattoos of their science? I put out a call, and the answer was an emphatic yes. For months now, I've gotten dozens upon dozens of examples, and an astonishing number of visitors who want to see them. After trying out a few different formats, I've now made the Emporium their home.


Wow. There are a some hottie scientists out there with some really cool ink.

That said, let me give mad props to this dude, because, seriously, that's committment.