Pebble

The PBL logo is called the Pebble which simply derives from the pronunciation of the acronym PBL. The allusion to Isaac Newton’s famous comment: “I was like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me”

is also satisfying.

The logo itself consists of a ‘P’ and a ‘B’ which, just in case you thought otherwise, stands for Population Biology. They also represent the first and the second return map (rotated clock-wise by 90 degrees) of the logistic map thus betraying the population dynamics background and the ‘convoluted’ mindset of the designer cum principal investigator of the lab.

Reshma Talreja has pointed out that the ‘B’ in the logo is indistinguishable from ‘3’, thus opening up a host of possible alternate interpretations. Let us state unequivocally that pebble has nothing to do with the P-3 aircraft of the US army or any of the dozens of P3-s that exist in the market, or the philosophies entailed by any of them. However, you can have your share of fun by hypothesizing what P-3 might stand for in the context of PBL and dropping me a line in case you think your concept is truly path-breaking! I promise to include the best entries here.

Ramray Bhat from New York Medical College comments:

"Regarding the Pebble Logo, it truly reminds me of a nose and lips of the scientist who revels in the blindness (hence no eyes) of which direction his results will go, but at the same time is voluble (hence the two thick lips) as to what hypotheses and reasonings his results should fit and also sniffs (hence the big nose) for problems all the time!!!!"

Supriya Shanbag from TIFR, Mumbai writes:

"I was just going through your website and saw the logo on FAQ page and its description. The very first time I saw the pebble logo I could not read it as "PB" but as a big 3 with its lower curved arm again curved in center to make another but smaller 3. And from my point of view, it can continue endlessly. To me it indicated the way Scientist starts his work; tries to resolve broader picture (the big 3) and during the course of it, he ventures into intricate details and further details just like the lower curve of 3 underwent another curve and this can go on till he has tools enough to explore the system."