The Scientific Vision of Women

Elizabeth “Betty” McMahan was a spirited polymath. From termites to telepathy, Star-Trek to storytelling, Dr. McMahan was interested in it all. She was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in entomology from the University of Hawaii, where she pioneered the use of radioisotopes to study food exchange among social termites. She continued to publish research and teach during a 25+ year career at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and was known for her “big heart, fierce intellect and boundless reserves of energy.” 

McMahan was also a cartoonist and scientific illustrator. This work was done with sensitivity to human and ecological systems alike. For example, McMahan’s illustrations for her semi-autobiographical children’s book series, Cammie, are both simple and sympathetic. In one illustration, McMahan depicts a grandfather wearing a two-pocketed button-down shirt and suspenders, hosting a Bantam rooster on each of his shoulders to the delight of his clapping granddaughter. Behind them, row crops - discernable as corn and tobacco - flourish, punctuated by thick-canopied trees. In another illustration, McMahan depicts the main character, Cammie, carving into a tree “I SHALL BE A GREAT BIOLOGIST.” The accompanying text reads: “She had been lying there in the darkness, thinking of her plan to become a Biology teacher, to learn so much about Biology that her knowledge would be in demand even outside her college. She wondered how she could bear to wait for years to see that dream come true.”  

McMahan approached her scientific illustration similarly, imbuing it with remarkable vitality while rigorously attending to the scientific subject at hand. For example, in the three illustrations seen here from Odum et al.’s (1998) Environment and Society in Florida, we see both the alert countenance and hanging feet characteristic of laughing gulls in flight (Figure 15.9) and careful attention to the specialized latticework skeleton of the sea fan (Gorgonia spp.) (Figure 15.8). Moreover, a deep understanding of ecology is evident in McMahan’s depiction of a Florida estuary (Figure 16.3), which expertly depicts the interactions between aquatic and terrestrial food webs. McMahan’s broad mind and artistic talent made her a natural choice to illustrate complex environmental systems. 

Label by Nicolette Cagle