Animating Science

Greetings. This week I attended some talks on a special way of communicating science: by using animation.

The talks were by David Bolinsky, from the company XVIVO. As a child, David had enjoyed science and loved animation, such as in Disney’s “Fantasia”. He went on to earn a medical-illustration degree, and he attended medical school for 2 years.

After working in traditional (non-animated) medical illustration, David decided to enter scientific animation. Work by his company has received much recognition, and David has become a popular speaker.

David spoke at a conference I attended in 2006, and I noticed his name in the program. As a child, I had had a classmate named David Bolinsky. The name was unusual, and I wondered whether this was the same person. It was, and we immediately recognized each other.

David’s conference presentation was excellent, and the animations were phenomenal. I therefore suggested inviting David to speak at Texas A&M University, where I teach.

This week David did speak at Texas A&M. He spoke at the college of medicine, at the visualization laboratory, and in my science reporting class. Again, the presentations were excellent and the animations were amazing.

David also had an important message: Using animation to show scientific processes can interest people in science and help them to learn science.

To see scientific animations by David’s group, go to the XVIVO website. And do return to the website, as a new version of it will be available soon.

What a wonderful combination of science and art!