Waybackwhen – in other words, before Mosaic, and dot coms and all – I posted a question about fiction with women scientists in which the science was central to the story on the women in bio forum on bionet, got some great replies, expanded my list, and some years later published a [cref stealing-fire short essay on women scientists in fiction], in the late, lamented HMS Beagle. I’ve recently started exploring the topic of Women Scientists in Fiction again in the form of a Tiddlyspot tiddlywiki, and am joyously distracting myself from about half a dozen other projects by rummaging around in the plethora of resources not available to me the first time – on-line library catalogues (Worldcat rocks, even although LOC indexing is baffling to the MeSH-accustomed), databases, and bibliographies from all over the world, compilations from other enthusiasts, book reviews, small publishers, etc etc, as well as the traditional forms of articles and books. I have to find out how to back up my zotero stash before the I catch the attention of the household god of undone backups (one of the Trickster gods, no doubt). The subgenre of realistic fictional portrayal of science and scientists has acquired a label, ‘LabLit’, at least in the UK, and a website, LabLit.com, dedicated to the culture of science in fiction and fact, which includes a list of novels, films, plays, and TV programs in the Lab Lit fiction genre. It’s a good list. Now if I could just remember where I put the article from ca 1983 (waywaywaybackwhen) that gave a very comprehensive survey of scientists in fiction to that date, or if I still have it, or indeed, anything about it except that it made reference to Mildred Savage’s In Vivo and David Foster’s The Pure Land. It’s all very well having a memory, but the memory needs an index!

Powered by ScribeFire.