Department of Mind-Blowing Theories collects Tom Gauld’s science cartoons from New Scientist magazine and, like a lot of strip collections, the quality is mixed, though I’d say there was more crap here than good unfortunately.
There are some strips that are funny in a thoughtful way rather than laugh-out-loud-funny. Testing an invisibility pill and a flying hat at the same time; a scientist using a mind-reading apparatus and saying “Are you absolutely sure that you’re not thinking about nuts?” to her annoyed colleague while a squirrel sits on a branch outside; swapping out hand sanitiser for growth serum.
Others are clever like the backwards strip about a time reversal machine or the tiny replica of the room with the scientists in repeated over and over. I also like Gauld’s art - it’s simplistic but there’s an elegance to the style and I find it appealing.
The bulk of the book though is mostly unfunny and instantly forgettable strips, exactly the kind you find embedded in magazine articles that leave no impression behind. Reading a whole bunch of them in one book doesn’t improve them - Department of Mind-Blowing Theories is a decidedly non-mind-blowing gag strip collection.
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