ABOUT

The Small Science Collective aims to get everyone thinking about science through handy and inexpensive one page mini-zines.  Our contributions come from researchers, students, artists, and seriously curious folk who want to share their love of nature – from gluons to gastropods – with fidelity and creativity. Print them, read them, share them.  Leave them somewhere random for some stranger to pick up. Science is everyone's to share.

Our zines and pamphlets are distributed in subways, benches, coffee shops, and any place someone might least expect them. Perhaps catching the attention of strangers who didn’t know they wanted to know more about ants, galaxies, or genes but are glad they got the unexpected chance. 

WHO WE ARE

The Small Science Collective was founded by Andrew S Yang and is maintained with the help of volunteers Amy Schleser and Isabella Rotman. Dozens of people have contributed zines, all of whom are credited in the Zine Library.  

WHY MAKE ZINES?  

➡️ WHOSE KNOWLEDGE IS SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE? 

Many say science is one of the most democratic forms of knowledge. At the same time, the gap between scientists and the public only seems to be widening. While the privatization and patenting of scientific knowledge increases rapidly, general scientific literacy lags woefully behind. 

As easy as it is to feel like science is obscure, too difficult, and perhaps even a little boring, shrugging-off its importance in our daily lives means letting others do all of the thinking, leaving everyone else to simply be consumers of the knowledge scientists and engineers produce - as education, entertainment, and technological tools, and toys.  What personal role can each of us play in sharing curiosity about the natural world and the ways we come to know it?  

➡️ SCIENCE IS EVERYONE'S TO SHARE

When is the last time you told a friend about an amazing scientific fact or shared a science idea with your family? Maybe just the other day. But how about also sharing science with someone you don’t know and may never even meet through writing + pictures? That is exactly what a “zine” is good for. 

Unlike a textbook, anybody can make a zine! You don’t have to be an MD or a PhD, you only need to know and care about your topic, and want to share this with others. You don’t need special equipment to make or read them. As a simple paper booklet, zines are small, inexpensive, and something you can make copies of & leave absolutely anywhere – from buses to bookstores.