Actually, Colors Speak – A PopSci book


 

In collaboration with Ipsa Jain (@ipsawonders) our new book “Actually, Colors Speak” is out. More about the book; There are a lot of popular science books that discuss astronomy and natural history, but there are seldom that bridges cell and molecular biology to a particular natural phenomenon. As scientists from a reputed science institution in India, we aspire to fill this niche through an illustrated popular science book. In this book we chose to explain about colors in animals, because they come in variety of colors and they can change colors too. While researching we also found that the changes in exterior skin color originates deep inside the cells. The fascinating aspect is the animals that change color within few minutes rely on a set of proteins inside the cells called cytoskeleton. Our lab at inStem, Bangalore researches on cytoskeleton proteins at a fundamental level. To showcase the changes from skin tissue, cell and intracellular elements we have adapted a graphic illustration style. To complement these illustrations, we have also narrated the science behind the cellular and molecular changes as a conversation between three characters. We wish our book will inspire new generation of students to engage in scientific curiosities and ask fundamental questions when exploring nature or their surroundings.