Tom Gauld
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tomgauld.bsky.social
Tom Gauld
@tomgauld.bsky.social
68K followers 93 following 890 posts
Cartoonist and Illustrator. My book of science cartoons, PHYSICS FOR CATS, is available now! www.tomgauld.com
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My latest @newscientist.com cartoon.

p.s. my new book of science cartoons 'Physics for Cats' is out now! Order from your local bookshop or online: www.tomgauld.com
Panel 1. Two scientists walking along. The first one says: I have opened a portal into an alternate universe that is an exact reflection of our own! Panel 2. The second scientist looks into a technical portal and says WOW Panel 3. A reflection of panel two. The reflected scientist's speech bubble still reads: WOW Panel 4. A reflection of panel one. The text is all back to front.
November 10, 2025 at 4:20 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
My books cartoon for this week’s @theguardian.com
Panel 1 An author in their agent's office says: "This book will be my magnum opus, the book that I was put on the planet too write, and the pinnacle my writing and your publishing careers." Panel two The agent looks over a manuscript with a neutral expression. The author continues: "Unless you don’t like it. In which case it’s just one of a number of ideas I’m playing around with."
November 9, 2025 at 4:04 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
p.s. there are three more dates on my Spanish tour:
• Wednesday, 7.30pm, Fundacion Telefonica, Madrid • Thursday, 6.30pm, Los 3 Hermanos de Moriarty, Madrid • Friday, 7.30pm, Libreria Letras Corsarias, Salamanca Links at tomgauld.com
November 5, 2025 at 12:45 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
One of the cartoons from my new book 'Physics for Cats'. In good bookshops now and online in English, French, German and Spanish editions. I am in Spain this week launching the book - come along! www.tomgauld.com
Caption: Despite his status in the mathematics community, Torus never stopped feeling inferior to his more delicious relatives, Doughnut and Bagel. Image: A wireframe torus with arms and legs waves awkwardly to a donut and bagel. From 'Physics for Cats' by Tom Gauld - order it at www.tomgauld.com
November 5, 2025 at 12:41 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
I am on the plane to Spain:
Come along to hear me talk or get a book signed/doodled in. • Tuesday, 7pm, Finestres d'art i Comic, Barcelona • Wednesday, 7.30pm, Fundacion Telefonica, Madrid • Thursday, 6.30pm, Los 3 Hermanos de Moriarty, Madrid • Friday, 7.30pm, Libreria Letras Corsarias, Salamanca Links at tomgauld.com
November 4, 2025 at 10:04 AM
tomgauld.bsky.social
I drew this cover for WOMAN ALIVE from @manderleypress.bsky.social "A forgotten #sci-fi #dystopian classic, first published 90 years ago and now reissued with an introduction by Graham Norton". Preorder it now: www.manderleypress.com/shop/p/womanalive
The cover of the book WOMAN ALIVE by Susan Ertz. Illustrated with a drawing by Tom Gauld in shades of reds and pinks which shows a retro-futuristic city. In the arched door of a tall tower stands a female stick figure. Stairs lead down, through a layer of clouds to lower levels and tunnels from which a crowd of male stick figures emerges.
November 3, 2025 at 2:18 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
My books cartoon for this week’s @theguardian.com
Title: The desk of a late, great author Panel 1: A woman asks "The publisher is on my back again. Have you guys got anything left in there?" Panel 2: A desk, with four drawers and a friendly face on each, replies "Nope" "Sorry." "Nothing." the last one says "I might have something..." Panel 3: The woman reaches into the drawer which says "That's it...Right At the back." Panel 4: The woman holds some paper "It's just a pizza menu." Panel 5: The drawers reply: "Oh well" "We've done our best" "We have secured a great reputation for eternity!" But another voice joins in: Panel 6: "Now, hold on there. I've got a few things that might Interest you..." It is the waste-paper basket, filled with crumpled balls of discarded paper.
November 2, 2025 at 2:16 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
3. Utter Horror!
Halloween horror! Horrifying: 1. Floating skull 2. Evil fog 3.Slime fiend Utterly horrifying: 1. Floating skull who borrows books and never returns them. 2. Evil fog with some really awful opinions (it is saying we've got the internet so we don't need libraries") 3. Slime fiend who browses bookshops then buys online
October 31, 2025 at 5:14 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
2. Culinary Witches
Panel 1: A blasted moor. Night. Two witches stand by a cauldron. One stirs. one adds ingredients and chants: "Eye of newt, toe of frog, wing of bat..." Panel 2 She continues: "Head of garlic, pinch of sumac, glug of walnut oil, leaf of kale, tablespoon of pomegranate molasses, cup of polenta, shake of smoked paprika..." Panel 3 The witches' pet raven says to their cat: "Things were a lot simpler around here before they got that Ottolenghi cookbook." p.s. I know that in Shakespeare it is ‘wool of bat’ but I thought ‘wing’ was better visually.
October 31, 2025 at 5:14 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
Three @theguardian.com books cartoons from previous halloweens: 1. Haunted Bookshop
Reasons to visit your local haunted bookshop: Open Until Very Late (image: moonlit bookshop) Staff with nine hundred years experience (image: skeleton bookseller) Home delivery by Headless Hoseman or flying fiend (image: deliveries being made) Readings from famous authors (Image: Shakespeare zombie) Stay and browse forever (Image ghost in a bookshop)
October 31, 2025 at 5:14 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
A halloween cartoon for @newscientist.com
Image: three figures in protective suits watch from behind a screen as a child approaches a door-like mechanical structure in which stands a man. Between them is an amorphous glowing shape. Caption: Scientists at the institute of halloween studies have succeeded in creating "The treak": a quantum state that is simultaneously trick and treat. It is stable for a millionth of a second before decaying into a half-hearted prank and a mediocre candy bar.
October 31, 2025 at 11:27 AM
tomgauld.bsky.social
🇪🇸 I am coming to SPAIN next week!
Come along to hear me talk or get a book signed/doodled in.
Tuesday, 7pm, Finestres d'art i Comic, Barcelona
Wednesday, 7.30pm, Fundacion Telefonica, Madrid
Thursday, 6.30pm, Los 3 Hermanos de Moriarty, Madrid
Friday, 7.30pm, Libreria Letras Corsarias, Salamanca
A drawing of a large cat-shaped book-filled spaceship being piloted through space by a small figure
October 30, 2025 at 5:56 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
A halloween books cartoon for @theguardian.com
Image: The library of an ancient castle. A full moon shines through a gothic window. A vampire creeps up behing a carpenter. Caption: "It had not been easy, but the Count was glad that he had resisted drinking the carpenter's blood until his beautiful new bookshelves were complete."
October 30, 2025 at 3:02 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
One of the cartoons in my new book 'Physics for Cats' which is out now in the UK, USA, Canada, France, Spain and Germany. Order from your local bookshop or online: www.tomgauld.com/
Title: Know Your Acronyms Image: four colourful panels each containing four figures representing the disciplines listed. 1. STEM Science, technology, engineering and mathematics 2. STET Sword-swallowing, , trapeze, escapology and tightrope 3. STEP Swindling, theft, extortion and piracy 4. STEW Seance, telekinesis, exorcism and witchcraft below is the following text: From 'Physics for cats' by tom gauld - order it at www.tomgauld.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:30 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
My cartoon for this week’s @newscientist.com (US/Canada version)
A hi tech laboratory. Technicians work at computer work stations. A glass cylinder contains an unhappy bespectacled figure in a striped top and hat. A scientist explains to two colleagues: "The subject will be returned to his natural habitat. But now, thanks to our implanted tracking device, we can answer the question 'Where's Waldo?' in microseconds rather than hours. "
October 26, 2025 at 3:22 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
My cartoon for this week’s @newscientist.com
A hi tech laboratory. Technicians work at computer work stations. A glass cylinder contains an unhappy bespectacled figure in a striped top and hat. A scientist explains to two colleagues: "The subject will be returned to his natural habitat. But now, thanks to our implanted tracking device, we can answer the question 'Where's Wally?' in microseconds rather than hours. "
October 26, 2025 at 3:22 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
...and another.
Panels 1 and 2 Interior. "I love autumn!" Says a book to its owner. "It's so romantic! Let's put on a big scarf, go to the park, and read on a bench as the orange leaves fall around us in the low sun." Panel 3 Caption: Soon. Image: they are now outside sheltering under an unbrella in torrential rain. "Shall we go home?" says the reader. "Yes please. I'm getting soggy." says the book.
October 24, 2025 at 3:40 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
A cartoon about autumn....
Title: The leaves Image 1: Two leaves hang from branches. "Would you like to hear my new poem?" Says one "Is it another one about the inevitability of death?" replies a smaller leaf. Image 2: "It's autumn! What else am i going to write about?" says the poet leaf. "Well, we've all turned this lovely reddish colour." says the small leaf. Image 3: "Actually, that could make a very nice poem. Thanks!" says the poet. Image 4. The small leaf begins to reply but is blown away by a gust of wind. Image 5: Later. The solitary poet leaf recites a poem: "The year dies. I cling hopelessly. In the end all things fall."
October 24, 2025 at 3:40 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
This cartoon and others are now in the art-for-sale section of my website: www.tomgauld.com/art-for-sale
A comic strip in six panels. Drawn in ink on white paperand signed by Tom Gauld in pencil. The panels inerlock like a jigsaw with knobs and sockets. Two stick figures walk right to left through all the panels. Panel 1: Person 1 says "I hear you're working on a new theory." Panel 2 & 3: Person 2 says: "Yes, I'm calling it the jigsaw model. I think it could change our whole View of reality." Panel 4: Person 1 says "When Will you publish?: Panel 5: Person 2 says "But a couple of things are still bothering me." (this piece/panel is a bit squint) Panel 6: This piece is rotated ninety degees and fits to the others very badly. Person 2 is saying "Soon. I feel like I'm really close" A second look at the whole comic shows that the last two panels read in the wrong order because the jigsaw has been put together incorrectly.
October 23, 2025 at 2:17 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
SPAIN! I am coming to visit Barcelona, Madrid and Salamanca to launch the @salamandraed.bsky.social edition of #PhysicsForCats #FísicaParaGatos. Come along! (details in the pictures)
Madrid Conversación con Laura Barrachina FÍSICA PARA GATOS tiras cómicas de Tom Gauld Miércoles 5 noviembre - 19:30h. Espacio Fundación Telefónica (C/Fuencarral, 3) Barcelona Conversación con Antonio Hitos FÍSICA PARA GATOS tiras cómicas de Tom Gauld Martes 4 noviembre - 19h. Finestres d'Art i Comic (C/Diputació, 250) Madrid Firma FÍSICA PARA GATOS tiras cómicas de Tom Gauld Jueves 6 noviembre - 18:30h. Los tres hermanos de Moriarty (C/de la Palma, 21) Los TR3S Salamanca Conversación con Seve Acosta FÍSICA PARA GATOS tiras cómicas de Tom Gauld Viernes 7 noviembre - 19:30h. Librería Letras Corsarias (C. Rector Lucena, I)
October 23, 2025 at 1:04 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
‘The exceptionally limited edition book.’ (My cartoon for this week’s @theguardian.com books)
Title: The exceptionally limited edition book Part 1. Bound in cloth taken from the author's wardrobe! (image of tweed-bound book) Indecipherably elegant font! Your mere presence sullies its beauty! Part 2. Luxurious presentation! (the book inside) Three slipcases (inside a) Lightproof Velvet bag (indide a) Archival Glass box (inside a) Lead-lined Biometric safe Part 3. Scroll of Authenticity! (image of long, text-covered scroll with am ornate seal) Includes author's signature, home phone number and invitation to stay for a few days over the summer. Part 4. Too heavy to hold: reading assistants On standby 24/7 (image of two figures holding huge book) Sign up promptly to ensure you are considered for the waiting list to enter the lottery to register your interest in preordering a copy!
October 19, 2025 at 4:03 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
Choose your own (research) adventure.
My cartoon for this week’s @newscientist.com
A choose-your-own-adventure, cartoon composed of nine, numbered panels. Panel 1 reads: What do you want to research? Free will, go to 8. Telepathic Twins, Go to 2. New flavours of ice cream, go to 3. Playing chess with robots, go to 5. Commuter jetpacks, go to 4. However, whatever you chose you will eventually be forced to choose 'Free Will' and end up at panel 9, which reads: Your paper is rapturously received and you are rewarded with a huge grant! Go to 1.
October 18, 2025 at 5:26 PM
tomgauld.bsky.social
One of the cartoons from my new book 'Physics for Cats'. In good bookshops now and online in English, French, German and Spanish. It's also available as a print at www.tomgauld.com/
A view of the International Space Station floating in the stars above the earth. A cat in a space suit floats outside. An astronaut within the station looks out of a window and says "In? But I just let you out." Text underneath reads: From 'Physics for Cats' by Tom Gauld - Order it at www.tomgauld.com
October 17, 2025 at 8:30 AM
tomgauld.bsky.social
German, French and English language editions are all available now from good bookshops and online: www.tomgauld.com
An image of the book 'Physics for Cats' by Tom Gauld. On the cover is an impossible shape against a starry sky. Gravity-defying cats wander around it. An image of the book 'La Physique pour les Chats' by Tom Gauld. On the cover is a huge machine controlled by cats in lab coats. In the centre is a mechanical portal through which the title floats. An image of the book 'Physik für die Katz' by Tom Gauld. On the cover is a view of the International Space Station. A cat in a space suit floats outside. An astronaut within the station looks out of a window and says "In? But I just let you out."
October 16, 2025 at 9:14 AM
tomgauld.bsky.social
Today is publication day for 'Física para Gatos', the Spanish edition of 'Physics for Cats' from @salamandraed.bsky.social Get it in your local bookshop or online: www.penguinlibros.com/es/novela-grafica/399092-libro-fisica-para-gatos-9788419981097
October 16, 2025 at 9:12 AM