As Harry C. Wiess professor of life sciences at Princeton University she is reading Virginia Valian鈥檚 Why So Slow (MIT, 1998) which 鈥渄iscusses reasons why women do not progress as easily as men in a variety of professions, including science鈥�. She recently picked it up again 鈥渢o help me think about the controversy surrounding Harvard president Larry Summers鈥檚 remarks on why women are under-represented in science and engineering鈥�. It鈥檚 a provocative book, she says, and gives the reader a lot to think about.
Zakian is giving a lecture on telomeres and chromosome behaviour and her views on being a woman in science at London鈥檚 Royal Society this month, while on a short sabbatical in London. She read two books set in the city to prepare for her visit: The Seven Sisters by Margaret Drabble (Viking, 2002) and Brick Lane by Monica Ali (Scribner, 2003), 鈥渆xcellent 鈥� I鈥檓 looking forward to visiting Brick Lane and its Sunday market鈥�.