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10 Original Gifts for Science and Art Geeks

It’s time again for me to offer up a few quirky gift ideas for the science enthusiasts in your life. I guarantee these will be the most original gifts under the tree!

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


It's time again for me to offer up a few quirky gift ideas for the science enthusiasts in your life. I guarantee these will be the most original gifts under the tree! And the best part? Many are under $50. Squee!

10.

Periodic Table Cutting Board by Elysium Woodworks, $45 on Etsy.com


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9.

Embroidered Anatomy Journal by FabulousCat, $50; more designs in FabulousCatPapers' Etsy shop.

8.

Science Throw Pillows by Heather Lins Home, $220 each; available via SupermarketHQ.com

7.

Giclée print of watercolor plasmids by Sandra Culliton, $20; one of many plasmid prints and originals available through sandraculliton's Etsy shop.

6.

Molecular Gastronomy DIY Kit for the home chef, $49 at Brookstone.com.

5.

Moldy Petri Dish no.18, handmade fiber art sculpture by ELIN, limited edition of 20, $142.02; more designs including moldy broaches, journal covers, and lichen art & jewelry at the elinart shop on Etsy.com.

4.

Women in Science Postcards by Megan Lee Studio, $7.50 for 5 cards; also available: Microbiology postcards, 50 Scientist Postcards and more via meganlee's Etsy shop.

3.

3Doodler, the 3D Printing Pen, $99; this pen extrudes thin strips of plastic allowing you to draw in three dimensions. Check out the gallery of possibilities and the wildly successful Kickstarter page that got them started.

2.

SciArtist Tiffany Bozic's monograph, Drawn By Instict, $32 at Amazon.com. We featured Bozic's work previously on Symbiartic (If Audubon Had Painted His Dreams); you can also see beautiful large-scale images of her work at her portfolio site.

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Lucy Chalkboard Skull by iamhome, $42; one of many colorful hominid skulls available from SupermarketHQ.com

Also, check out my gift guide from last year. Molecular jewelry, Theo Jansen's mechanical strandbeests, insect sculptures, dino prints and work by my Symbiartic co-bloggers are all great options as well. Check them out!

By the way, none of these artists have any idea that I picked their products out of the ether to share with you. We are not in cahoots, nor do I get any cut of any sales, although I wouldn't be sad if a modest royalty check made it my way... ha! But just so we're clear, this here is an honest-to-goodness advertising-free list of sciart awesomeness. Yup!