by Melissa Batty
Staff Writer
Bettyann Kevles, journalist, editor, author and teacher, will speak on Thursday, March 14 at 10:30 a.m. in La Fetra Auditorium, about her recent studies dealing with the history of imaging the body.
The speech, which is entitled “Naked to the Bone,” stems from her latest book of the same title. Kevles’ speech will discuss the history of body imaging, from x-rays to magnetic resonance images.
“The book is about the discovery of x-rays, wht the world was like when they first came out,” she said.
“I started just writing about x-rays, but as I continued my research, I included all types of medical imagery,” said Kevles.
Kevles is a graduate of Vassar College and received her master’s degree from Columbia University. She published her first book, “Watching the Wild Apes,” in 1976 followed by “Thinking Gorillas,” in 1981 and “Females of the Species,” in 1986.
Her first book was the winner of the New York Academy of Science Award for best science book for young adults. The book also won the Boston Globe Horn Book Award for best non-fiction in 1977.
“At ULV, I will be talking almost exclusively about the visual arts,” she said. “It just seemed like something that the students would be interested in. People are familiar with the visual arts. We’re all used to seeing images rather than reading books.”
Kevles has spent time teaching science writing at Harvard University during the Radcliffe Seminars and also at the Writer’s Program at UCLA.
She has also been a member of the advisory council for the PEN (Poets, Essays, and Novelists) Center, an international group, as well as an executive committee member of the Pacific Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Kevles’ participation as a member of the National Association of Science Writer’s, the National Book Critics Circle and the Center for the Study of the Evolution of Life at UCLA, has helped her form her outstanding interests and resume. This includes her expertise on hydraulics as a writing consultant to the Metropolitan Water District, which is the organization that provides water for more than 15 million Los Angeles residents.
A native of New York City, Kevles is a long-time California resident. Her interests vary from ancient cave art to Tudor History and the space program. Her main interest is to “talk about the impact of medical imagery on the fine arts.”
Kevles is currently contributing to The Planetary Report, as well as reviewing books for The New York Times, and New York Newsday. She is also reviewing science books for the Los Angeles Times.
She began writing “Naked to the Bone” after being approached by the Sloan Foundation, a scientific group that published a series of books on 20th century technology.
“The role technology has played in 20th century society is incredible,” she said. “This book is about how this technology evolved, how it affected business and how it affected medical systems. This is the first really big breakthrough of the 20th century.”
In her book, Kevles discusses the ways in which medical imaging technology has affected laws, politics, culture and the visual arts.
Features Editor Monica Schwarze contributed to this story.
