Preprint Essay Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

A Perceptive Scale Toolkit for Navigating Across Length Scales

Version 1 : Received: 29 October 2019 / Approved: 30 October 2019 / Online: 30 October 2019 (09:31:14 CET)

How to cite: Jain, I.; Sirajuddin, M. A Perceptive Scale Toolkit for Navigating Across Length Scales. Preprints 2019, 2019100354. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201910.0354.v1 Jain, I.; Sirajuddin, M. A Perceptive Scale Toolkit for Navigating Across Length Scales. Preprints 2019, 2019100354. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201910.0354.v1

Abstract

A naked human eye can perceive objects down to a millimeter length. While lenses and microscopes have overcome this limit, the human mind still lacks perspective when navigating conventional scales (1), especially in the range that are less palpable to naked human eye (2,3). This problem is particularly acute in the context of science communication, where the conventional scale bar units facilitate little comprehension regarding the perception for factorial size differences (3). Here we aim to bridge the gap of scale factors and perspectives using a universal toolkit of objects, which can help comprehend the relative change in length dimensions up to 13 orders of magnitude difference. We further have demonstrated the use of such a universal object toolkit as a length perceptive scale by illustrating and narrating biological phenomena. The meter to picometer ‘length perceptive scale’ proposed here has the potential to cover majority of length scales present in the biological realm, and is analogous to the time compression methods widely used in explaining cosmos timeline (4). Our toolkit can also be calibrated according to the users need in their scientific communication and illustrations, which will aid the readers’ benefit in understanding the length scale perception of illustrated phenomenon.

Supplementary and Associated Material

Keywords

science communication; scale; education; toolkit

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Biophysics

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