Jim Ottaviani

Jim Ottaviani is an American writer who is the author of several

Biography

Ottaviani has a background in science, earning a B.S. at the

Ottaviani's interest in writing science-related comics was inspired by Richard Rhodes's book The Making of the Atomic Bomb. In discussing the book with comic book artist Steve Lieber, the two decided to write and illustrate a famous meeting between physicists Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg during World War II. That project expanded to include other stories from the history of science to become the graphic novel Two-Fisted Science, including stories written by Ottaviani and illustrated by a variety of artists.^[3]

Since the publication of Two-Fisted Science, Ottaviani has gone on to write several other comic books about scientists, including Dignifying Science (about women scientists), Fallout (about the creation of the atomic bomb), Suspended in Language (about physicist Niels Bohr) and Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards (about nineteenth century paleontologists). These works are all self-published by Ottaviani's own company, G. T. Labs, which he started in 1996.^[4] The company's name is an homage to General Techtronics Labs, the fictional company where comic book character Peter Parker was bitten by the radioactive spider that led to his becoming Spider-Man.^[1]

Two of Ottaviani's most recent works Levitation and Wire Mothers (published July 2007) are the beginning of a planned series on "the science of the unscientific." Levitation the physical and psychological aspects of

On August 31, 2011, Ottaviani appeared on the Science Channel's Dark Matters: Twisted But True.

On November 15, 2013,

• Safecracker, (artist: Bernie Mireault) General Tektronics Labs, 1997, excerpted from Two-Fisted Science.
• Two-Fisted Science: Stories About Scientists, (various artists) General Tektronics Labs, 1997.
  ISBN 978-0-9660106-0-2
  .
  • Second edition, G. T. Labs, 2001.
    ISBN 978-0-9660106-2-6
    .
• Wild person in the woods (artist: Anne Timmons). Orangutan Foundation International, 1998.
• "Talking" orangutans in Borneo (by Nancy Briggs and Jim Ottaviani; illustrated by Anne Timmons), Orangutan Foundation International, 2000.
• Fallout: J. Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard, and the Political Science of the Atomic Bomb, (various artists) G. T. Labs, 2001.
  ISBN 978-0-9660106-3-3
  .
• Dignifying Science: stories about women scientists, (various artists) Second edition, G. T. Labs, 2003.
  ISBN 978-0-9660106-4-0
  .
• Quantum Entanglement, Spooky Action at a Distance, Teleportation, and You : a.k.a the Official G.T. Labs Guide to Teleportation via Quantum Entanglement and Spooky Action at a Distance (Including a Brief but Helpful Section on Why, Perhaps, You Should Not Try This at Home), (artist: Roger Langridge) G. T. Labs, 2003.
• Suspended In Language: Niels Bohr's Life, Discoveries, And The Century He Shaped, (artist:
  ISBN 978-0-9660106-5-7
  .
• ISBN 978-0-9660106-6-4
  .
• Levitation: Physics and Psychology in the Service of Deception (artist:
  ISBN 978-0-9788037-0-4
• Wire Mothers: Harry Harlow and the Science of Love (artist:
  ISBN 978-0-9788037-1-1
• T-Minus: The Race to the Moon (artists:
  ISBN 978-1-4169-4960-2
• Feynman (artist:
  ISBN 978-1-59643-259-8
• Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas, illustrated by Maris Wicks, First Second, 2013,
  ISBN 978-1-5964386-5-1
• The Imitation Game, illustrated by
  Tor.com
  , 2014.
• The Imitation Game: Alan Turing Decoded (artist:
  ISBN 978-1-4197189-3-9
• Hawking (artist: Leland Myrick), First Second, 2019,
  ISBN 9781626720251
• ISBN 9781610919586^[11]
• Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier (artist: Maris Wicks), First Second, 2020, ISBN 9781626728776
• Einstein (artist: Jerel Dye), First Second, 2022, ISBN 9781626728769