Defining Features

Portraiture as a genre is receiving increased attention at the same time that public curiosity about science is reaching unprecedented levels; Defining Features brings portraiture and science together. Ludmilla Jordanova's lucid text reflects on the nature of the relationship between art, science, medicine and technology by focusing on a selection of portraits that spans more than three centuries. Illustrated with likenesses of such notable personalities as Edward Jenner, Marie Curie, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Dorothy Hodgkin, and encompassing a variety of media from paintings and medals to bookmarks and key rings, Defining Features charts changing attitudes towards medical practice and scientific investigation, as well as exploring how notions of gender, heroism, popularization and celebrity have affected the public's understanding of how researchers do their work.

Review: 'Beautifully produced ... she succeeds in stimulating fresh discussion of scientific portraiture. After this, we will all look with keener eyes at those familiar portraits that adorn the walls of the Royal Society or hang in splendour, tier upon tier, in the Royal College of Physicians.' - Lisa Jardine, Nature