|
So What is Bikini Science? Bikini Science is a virtual information space that you can interactively navigate. You may travel many different ways and go many places in any order. Follow you way. Explore. Have fun. Learn about yourself. The topic of bikinis is a broad vista, full of structures and wonderment. In this world one encounters a ride range of people, costumes, times, locations, and theories, sort of a who-what-when-where-why bikinis. What is a Bikini? A small two-piece swimsuit. Bikini Science examines it as a species of swimwear. How Did the Bikini Come to Be? The bikini--the smallest yet most non-trivial costume-- evolved after Operation Crossroads, nuclear bomb test conducted at Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific in 1946 following the Second World War. This history is fully told in Bikini Science. Is Earlier Swimwear Described? This study commences in biblical times and examines swimwear up to the present. Bikini Science is a study of duals: the body and its coverings, and is therefore a study of ourselves. Is Bikini Science serious? Really now! But if you insist: we have much to learn about studying what we wear, when and where we wear it, and why. There is good fun in wearing a small bikini on the beach, and there is good science in learning about our social relationships and ourselves. You too can create structures; you too can study them; you too can become a Bikini Scientist it as art, humor, or artifice. So get to work! How I Access the Website? The Bikini Science website enables you--be you a researcher, scholar, newshound, or just the curious--to explore five ways bikinis intersect with the world. These Five Categories are found on the Main Page and on the menu bar at the top of every page. The Categories are akin to the "who, what, when, where, and why" of the journalist: Models (the who) Costumes (the what) The Machine (the when) Beaches (the where) Professor (the why) How is the Site Organized? Each of the Five Category Pages connects from a few to a few dozen mid-level menu pages, each of which in turn connect to dozens of Scene Pages, which are the lowest level of the website and which contain all the pictures. The mid-level menus are called the Dubya Pages (or the Dubyas for short; the term refers to the five W's of the journalist). Bikini Science contains several hundred Dubya Pages. The Scene Pages are the lowest level pages in the site and contain all the examples--typically a title, description, and one or more pictures. Bikini Science contains several thousand Scene Pages. What is the Main Page? This is the home page of Bikini Science. You can click Main Page at the top left menu on any page. From the Main Page you can go to any Category Page; but also be reminded you can actually do that from any page. What Does Each Category Contain? A description of the structure as it pertains to each of the Categories follows next. What is in the Models Category? The Models Category is organized around people who wear swimsuits and bikinis--the "who." These people come from real life, from narratives and accounts, and from the media. Some of the personalities are actresses, showgirls, models, and pinups; but they are usually here because they represent a period, e.g., Bardot is the bikini girl from the 1950s. You can also click the sitting bikiniite with the star on the Main Menu to access the Models. What is in the Costumes Category? The Costumes Category organizes the swimsuit in a precise scientific fashion and is the "what" of Bikini Science. This concept is not original but it has been expanded to provide a detailed classification of not only the bikini and maillot, but also earlier swimming costumes of the 19th century as well as related forms. The Dubya Menus of the Costumes details five genus of swimsuit plus the Bikiniology--an analysis of bikini design features. Each of the genus in turn reveals a collection of species, for example the different kinds of bikini tops. Clicking on the Bikini Shop on the Main Menu will also bring you into this section. What is in the Time Machine? The Time Machine Category allows you to explore the history of the swimsuit, ranging from the near future to deep past--the "when." The Dubya Menus in the Time Machine are organized in half-decade periods (except for the early years) so you can study related styles and social issues. Each Dubya also contains a scrolling chronology of events. You may enter the Time Machine from the Main Beach instead of clicking the top menu bar. What is the Location? The Locations Category contains a series of beach locations from around the world--the "where." Each beach Dubya Menu provides an aerial view, which you may navigate graphically. The locations are chosen for diversity, historical importance, and convenience. The venue of the bikini is important, and on some of the maps explore venue from the surf to further inland. You may also click the Map on the Main Beach to gain access. What is the Professor Category? The Professor Category combines help, FAQ's, and seeks to find the motivation for the bikini, although the "why" is in practice distributed throughout Bikini Science. The Dubyas in this category are few in number and include this introduction, a biography, credits, and the Exposures, which define factors that explain how and why the swimsuit changes silhouette--including getting smaller. What are the Dubyas? The Dubyas are the second layer menu structure of Bikini Science--between the Categories and the Scenes. A Dubya pages is really just a topic page, in that it is a gathering together and the presentation of an idea or theme. Example Dubyas include model auditions, the strapless maillot, the roaring twenties, Coney Island, and cleavage. Note there is one example from each of the Categories. Each Category points to a few or a few dozen Dubya pages and each Dubya links in turn with an inventory of Scenes. The Scenes fortify the concept the Dubya is seeking to express, for example a Dubya about string bikinis includes samples from different years and beaches, whereas a Dubya about the French Riveria might explore many personalities and many different species of swimsuit. What is a Scene? A Scene consists of a single web page which documents a particular who, what, when, where, and, sometimes, a why. It describes, in pictures and words, a particular event, something that occurred. "Jenny Horn, The Blue Spider, February 1989, New York"--who, what, where, where. Why she wore this very costume this very day is more complex, and often not found in a Scene--why's often require Dubya analysis. A scene, any scene, this scene, fits therefore into a matrix of the categories: Jenny Horn is one of the Model "Auditions", The spider is a type of bikini and is therefore also one of the Costumes. 1989 is the "late 1990s" in the Time Machine chronology. And New York has many beach Locations. The Scene, therefore, usually entails into multiple themes; this is not always the case, and some Scenes are more link rich than others. Scenes sometimes also link to each other, sometimes to encourage you to follow threads, and sometimes because they have innate bilateral or triangular structure. A Scene begins and ends when a player enters or leaves the stage, when a costume changes, or there is à natural cut. How many Levels in Bikini Science? Three not counting the Main, another term for the home page: The Five Categories, the few hundred Dubyas, and the few thousand Scenes. How does the Hierarchy Work? Structural links click up and down one Hierarchy for each Category. The Dubya "Jenny Horn" contains a link Up to the Models Category, and it contains links[Down] to multiple Scenes, one for each of her bikini costumes. All these links are bidirectional, in other words, you can go from Jenny Horn to any of her bikinis and go from any of her bikinis back to her. One may also traverse to Jenny Horn's spider bikini via "The Spider" Dubya located among the Costumes. "The Spider" documents many varieties of this most extreme bikini, and links to a number of Scenes worn by different models over the years and around the world. Again, these links are bidirectional. What are Meshes? Links are also used to form Meshes. This is often done by pointing a pair of Dubya pages to each other. This information mesh in not a matrix but rather a connection of lateral ideas, for example, "Spider" links to "Crochet", its frequent construction material, and another theme. Meshes have been constructed sort of like nature trails, and hopefully they provide stepping-stones through an environment of resonance. For example the 1945-1950 Time Machine contains links to the "Nombril" and to "Navelage". On June 30, 1946 the bikini is born. The new kind of bottoms is called a "Nombril", and that is a Dubya over in the Costumes Category. And the part of the body exposed is the navel, thus "Navelage" over with the Professor at large. Mesh consists of these kind of structural triangles, as well as bi-lateral links when two Dubyas or Scenes cross-reference each other. What are Threads? Threads--usually a set of links arranged in a linear fashion-- provide running narrative across a sequence of Scenes. Sometimes Threads are used to ring togther a small cluster of something, but not an idea big enough to be clustered into a dubya. Examples include The Shrinking Bikinis, the Pasquel Set, the Adjustables and Rolldowns, Tubes, the Polka Dots, the One and a Halfs, the Rosebra Collection, the Spandex primitives, and Exercise Wear. How Do Previous|Next Work? When they appear at the Scene level, Previous|Next on the Main Menu navigate to the previous or next Scene. Previous scenes are older than the Scene currently displayed, and Next Scenes lie forward in time. When they appear at the Dubya level, Previous|Next cycle from the current Dubya to a neighbor. In the case of the Time Machine, Next advances to the next half decade, from 1950-1955 to 1955-1960. In the Locations Next advances alphabetically by beach name, Cocoa Beach is followed by Coney Island. In Models does not incorporate this feature because of their more individual nature. Costumes are cycled in the direction of minimization; there is no alphabetical order. The correlation of the costume to time is a more complex analysis. Tips on Searching & Keywords The Search button on all menu searches all Bikini Science website and returns results with a google-style look and feel. This may provide more tactical results than searching via a google-type. Be aware that Bikini Science is particular about labeling--in fact labeling is a first step for most any science. Particular attention is given to keywords, which describes the swimsuit and the parts of the bikini. Precise terms are also used to describe other things: parts of the body, exposures of skin, and various actions, such as "doff" and "don" or a "strapoff". (These keywords are highly congruent with the Dubyas.) Names, dates, location descriptions, and descriptions of actions are written in full text. Together the keywords and the full text make the product very search rich. How Do I Predict the Future? Ah, the final question. Answer: Observation, learning and the making of records, and adopting what works. Bikini Science analysis begins by defining ideas (concepts) and searching for relationships between them that invite prediction, not unlike any other science. Higher velocities require better radar, so to speak. The why's of the bikini are sprinkled throughout. You are invited to navigate this virtual world and make you own discoveries. Will Bikini Science Make Me A Better Person? Hope so. Generally, whenever you can learn more about yourself, your world, and your history, that's a good thing. |
|
