The Incredible Shrinking Man

Difference in body-size has intrigued people throughout the centuries. Dwarfs were amongst the most popular gladiators in Rome and famous little people like General Tom Thumb, Sebastiano Biavati and He Pingping still capture the imagination. Another example is documented in the book The Enanitos Toreros by New York based photographer Livia Corona. For 8 years [...]

As with animals, Plants can be dwarfed through genetic engineering and selective breeding, but environmental stresses  such as soil quality, light, drought, flood, cold, infection, and herbivory, can also lead to a dwarfed stature . However the majority of dwarfing in plants does not directly occur from environmental damage but from stress hormones produced in response. [...]

This research project gets its name from the classic film The Incredible Shrinking Man.  The film, based on Richard Matheson’s book The Shrinking Man, is about a man who slowly shrinks into oblivion. It is a rich document for analysis of  some of the fears and challenges involved.