If your significant other is a science or medicine geek, gift-giving can be tricky, particularly for Valentines Day. Fear not! I pulled together a list you can use to show that you can be all heart and super brainy this Valentine’s Day.

Farlow’s Scientific Glass.

ANATOMICALLY ACCURATE! Okay, this one is for those of you who have endowed chairs, know Oprah or struck it rich in the lottery. Capturing the detailed vasculature of the heart and beyond, these amazing glass sculptures are being handmade over at Farlow’s glass. If the brain is your organ of interest, they have a sculpture of that one too! They are stunning, but for around $30,000, you might just have a cardiac misfire when your credit card bill comes.

THINKING PRESENT! If that glass sculpture is a bit spendy, or maybe you’re too klutzy to make it survive long, Crazy Aaron’s thinking putty may be more to your liking. Running only $12, I was gifted the ‘unicorn snot’ variety which I love.

The snot/crazy thinking putty doesn’t dry out, collect fuzz or make any noise when you bring it to a faculty meeting where they are droning on about patient coding and you accidentally pop a bubble. Hypothetically, of course.

Silly hearts! From The Awkward Yeti

THE AWKWARD YETI GETS US. One of my favorite comics, Awkward Yeti has a perfect book this Valentine’s Day for the STEM love of your life. Entitled Heart and Brain, the Yeti captures the constant battle between wants and reason. The hilarious book can be yours for $15 by going here.

BIOLOGISTS REJOICE – I hate bugs. Hate em. Smoosh em. Blargh.

What bugs lack in up close charm, Alex Wild is able to capture fine endearing features in his amazing photographs. Alex has everything from bees to make you weak in the knees to praying mantis that will make you grateful humans have evolved different ways to procreate. Alex Wild has populated my home with photos I bought online because he makes ants, bees, nature and it’s critters adorable. Check out his amazing work.  

Hmmm….blood cells!

BUGS AREN’T YOUR THING? If bug photos will just get you a place sleeping on the couch, maybe you can branch out from a dozen roses and hook your beloved up with a box of blood cells from Giant Microbes or a bouquet of a dozen plush dragons. They’re both super cute. While checking out the dragons, poke around the things from our buddies at Think Geek who always have great presents for STEM friends.

Putting your heart out their with this awesome Artologica EKG scarf.

SCIART IS ALWAYS IN STYLE: Valentine’s Day is a great time to check out the fabulous sciart from our friends Vexed Muddler and Artologica on Etsy. Vexed has pendants of hearts to microbes in all kinds of fantastic colors that I adore (as well as scads of other jewelry). Artologica makes amazing watercolors, fabric art and adorable petri dish critters. I’ve shown her cute EKG scarf over yonder, but there’s lots to love! Check her out here.

Don’t forget to check out Hope’s own Lab Girl as a great read!

If you are still on the fence, Hope Jahren did a fantastic job editing 2017’s Best American Science and Nature Writing compilation. The book  is an amazing read available in both paperback and as a Nook download. America’s favorite Lab Girl picks some great fresh prose from amazing writers. Well done, Hope!

Still stumped? A great last minute gift are the super cute cards from World Wildlife Fund which specializes in preservation of plants and animals all over the world. For a donation of your choosing, they will send your honey bunny a super cute ecard, like this one with a baby elephant (the otter ones are also cute beyond words).

All the cutes and the money goes to a good cause!

Do you have any Valentine’s Day presents you’ve gotten or want to get? Share them below in the Comments and maybe the Valentine’s Day fairy will deliver!

PS! Thanks Helen for the Comment. I couldn’t add a photo in Comments but some of those heart themed 1824 jewelry items are super Valentine’s Day friendly!

About the Author

Screen Name

Fighty Squirrel, PhD, Awe.Some.

About Me

The Fighty Squirrel is very thin pseud for a molecular and cellular neurobiology type who runs a lab studying neurodegeneration. She is mother to a 14yo half child/half honey badger and 16yo half child/half border collie and a Reviewing Editor at Journal of Neuroscience. She also sort of a badass at air hockey. She speaks for herself unless her employer likes it, in which case it's patented.