The colouring book celebrating diversity in science

Superheroes have long captured the imagination of children in the pages of comic books and on screen. Magical powers, bright capes, superhuman strength and a sense of adventure are all part of their enduring appeal. Science historian and writer Kit Chapman conjured a plan to emulate this excitement, but for real-life scientists.

‘I remember as a kid, I used to love doing colouring books, but I could never find something to do with science or history or something that I was really interested in,’ Chapman explains.

He was inspired by Semarhy Quiñones’ beautiful colouring book Types of Scientists: A Coloring Book for All Ages, which brings science careers to life through line drawings of women in an A–Z of different roles. Chapman wanted to ‘take this a step further’ by reimagining scientists as superheroes in his Stem Heroes project.