zoo-math
Explanation
The Joke
The comic's header reads "Never take a mathematician to the zoo." A mathematician standing at the zoo looks at a gazelle and dismissively says: "Pfft. A gazelle is just a giraffe, plotted logarithmically."
The Humor
The joke plays on how mathematicians see the world through the lens of mathematical transformations. A giraffe is tall with a long neck, while a gazelle is much shorter and more compact. If you were to take the shape of a giraffe and apply a logarithmic transformation -- which compresses large values -- you would indeed "squish" the tall giraffe down into something shorter and more proportional, somewhat resembling a gazelle. The humor comes from the mathematician's inability to simply enjoy the zoo, instead reducing distinct animals to mathematical functions of one another. It's a nerd joke that plays on the idea that to a mathematician with a hammer, everything looks like a function to be transformed. The companion's exasperated expression sells the bit -- this is clearly not the first insufferable observation the mathematician has made during their zoo visit.
References
- Logarithmic scale/plotting: In mathematics, a logarithmic transformation compresses the range of large values. Plotting data logarithmically makes exponentially different quantities appear closer together. Applied to a giraffe's proportions, this would "shrink" its elongated features into something more compact -- hence, a gazelle.