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The Quick Study Bikini Science is all about bikinis. It is about people who wear bikinis, the styles of the bikini, how bikinis evolved, where they are to be found, and why they exist. This is the "who, what, when, where and why" of Bikini Science. In fact, Bikini Science is the history of the bathing suit, starting from the middle of the 1800s and continuing through today. That story is rich in detail, meaning, and motivations, and it connects from the present to events that took place in the Garden of Eden. Bikini Science is a story of how evolution works in society, but Bikini Science is also a work of art. It is serious, but also meant to be fun. There are many ideas, much scholarship, and many words and images throughout Bikini Science. The idea is that this is an environment to be explored, but also one that enables you to access information multiple ways, and in a repeatable fashion. That said, please explore the few other pages here that are created to help you orient yourself--be you a serious student of the history of fashion and society, or the unadulterated voyeur. A Longer Explanation As scholarship, Bikini Science presents a history of swimwear. It does it using a five-pronged approach that features: Important persons Various styles A historical overview Famous locations An analysis of why This scholarly approach attempts to be factual and correct, and present an accurate overview of the people, places, and dates involved. But Bikini Science is also an artwork. Although it attempts to be factually accurate, it is also willing to extrapolate and be fictional. As art, Bikini Science is about creative expression, personal experience, learning, love and war. As an interactive, navigable environment, it is made with forethought as to how one might explore; in other words, most links have a reason. The agenda reflects the bias of the author and dampens the work as sociology. The links throughout provide a first approximation of paths that are artistic and scientific, but most of all a guided tour. All links are bi-directional. A rich body of text is fully searchable and an underlying tree structure follows from the menu at the top of all pages. A search function is also contained. Nonetheless, we hope that this "pseudo-sociology" is useful to the professional observer. Like much bad science, Bikini Science joins a host of studies that are colored by the biases of their authors. Moreover there is no attempt to perform truly correct sampling techniques, or footnote references, and it exaggerates the edge and the rarity. As bad art, Bikini Science is prepared to expose pedestrian as well as professional viewpoints. It will not hesitate to abandon fine art should a relic emerge which tells a story or advances a point. There are many themes throughout Bikini Science and only by delving into it will the surfer engage their flavor. One recurrent theme is the issue of momentum, and the factors acting on it. Momentum is a fashion action, which, once started, appears almost self-sustaining, like the rise of the legline throughout the 20th century. You can observe its velocity in millimeters per year, and you can watch what happens when the line tops out. The forces that drive the shifting erogenous zones are mostly human in nature--they are social and psychological forces. Ultimately one hopes that Bikini Science can be a vehicle to both arouse and stimulate the explorer. For what is provided is an interactive navigable environment. It is the world of the bikini across space and time and characters and costume. There are some paths are well worn (but no doubt there is confusion sown about as well). We hope the environment will let you catalyze your own thoughts about yourself, your neighbors, and your world. |
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