"It was a wonderful experience interacting with you and appreciate the way you have planned and executed the whole publication process within the agreed timelines.”
Subrat SaurabhAuthor of Kuch Woh Pal
This is a discourse in a lab. No, not an everyday discussion between humans, but a chance conversation between a camera, binoculars and a microscope who try to understand the world of colors. Veering away from their regular task of aiding their human, a naturalist, these three instruments embark on a learning journey. In this journey, they share their knowledge and perspectives from their own previous adventures. There is nothing devoid of colors, they are everywhere—from the tiny spaces of cells to the vast expanse of the space. If colors are omnipresent, does their existence have multitude of purposes? The camera, binoculars, and the microscope, through their discourse, dive deep into these rarely considered aspects and reveal the secret behind the colours around.
Reviews
"Whether you are young or old, the natural world can be a daily source of amazement. Minhaj and Ipsa lead you gently through the story of the origins of colours in animals, explaining the many ways in which animals can alter their colours to attract mates, repel threats and blend in with their surroundings. The variety and brilliance of the colours we can see reflected in the living world, and the remarkable ability of the animals they describe here to change them at will, is a fascinating scientific story, described in simple language and beautifully illustrated in this book."
— Gautum Menon, Physicist and Biologist
"As an illustrator of nature and an amateur naturalist, Actually Colours Speak helped me deepen my knowledge of colours in nature which had only been 'skin deep' so far. The interactive writing gives this scientific book the rare feat of being a delight. The visuals have all the zing the story needs, doing complete justice to nature's colour palette. A charming and comprehensive read."
— Rohan Chakravarty, Cartoonist
Minhaj Sirajuddin, Ipsa Jain
Minhaj Sirajuddin is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (inStem), Bangalore. Minhaj’s research work is funded and kindly acknowledges the support by DBT-inStem, Department of Biotechnology, Department of Science and Technology, India, DBT/WT- India Alliance and EMBO Young Investigator. When not researching (read writing reports), mentoring students or sitting in committees you can find Minhaj running outside and exploring nature.
For more information or to get in touch visit (https://www.instem.res.in/faculty/minhaj or http://cytoskeleton-lab.org/ or twitter@ms_chirps or linkedin.com/in/minhaj-sirajuddin-149aa557)
Ipsa is ascientist turned illustrator who tells stories of science. She was a postdoctoral fellow in Minhaj Sirajuddin’s lab at Instem. When she is not drawing science, she is consuming children’s picture books. She loves walking and identifies as a tree trash collector. She lives in Bangalore, because of the good weather. Find more about her work at www.ipsawonders.com or get in touch on Twitter or Instagram where she is present as ipsawonders.
