Women in Science Link Roundup: The Arts

A few recent links about women, science and art and fiction.

Abel Pharmboy writes about Odile Crick, the wife of Francis Crick, who died on July 5. Odile drew the double-helix structure of DNA in Crick and Watson's famous 1953 paper.

LabLit.com reports on the work of London artists Denise Wyllie and Clare OHagan's series of artworks to raise awareness of Rosalind Franklin and ovarian cancer.

Wyllie explains: “We were talking to a fellow artist about our project and she said, ‘Oh you know about Rosalind Franklin, of course’, but of course, we didn’t.” Intrigued, the artists researched Franklin’s story and were shocked by what they found. O Hagan says: “We were fuelled by anger that we knew nothing about Franklin’s work and that her work wasn’t recognised. It inspired us to make art to acknowledge her scientific achievements.”

Poppy Z. Brite points to a passage that's a great example of what not to write:

By all reports, gorgeous female characters in books must wear less makeup than any other women on earth, with the possible exception of starlets sitting for interviews. The I-don't-see-myself description appears on page 3 of Sequence, an alleged suspense thriller by Lori Andrews. Here, two pages later, is the sentence that made me throw the book across the room (and, later, in the trash):

Alex felt that she could persuade the corpse, woman to woman, to yield up her genetic secrets.

* Harry Potter SPOILER *

The Today Show talked to J.K. Rowling about what happens to her characters after The Deathly Hallows:

Luna Lovegood, the eccentric Ravenclaw who was fascinated with Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and Umgubular Slashkilters, continues to march to the beat of her own drum.

“I think that Luna is now traveling the world looking for various mad creatures,” Rowling said. “She’s a naturalist, whatever the wizarding equivalent of that is.”

Tags: Rosalind Franklin, Denise Wyllie, Clare O'Hagan, Odile Crick, Luna Lovegood