Alumni Profiles: Ann Short

Ann Short née Robinson (Natural Sciences, 1974)

By Mark A. Walsh (English, 1997)

Ann Short may well have taught you science. She may not have been in your classroom in person, but there’s a good chance she was there. She has a reasonable claim, after all, to have taught science—biology in particular—to millions of young people across the world.

The key to this unlikely-sounding feat is simple: Ann Short (under her writing name, Ann Fullick) is the author of around 200 books, including some of the most widely used GCSE and A-Level biology texts in the UK. Her works are also used across the world in places as diverse as Australia, Pakistan, Rwanda and the US.

Her books have sold millions of copies—anybody who studied biology in the UK in the last 30 years or so may well have had a text by Ann beside them. Abroad, they have supported key aspects of relevant biology and health education for teachers and students alike, from dispelling disinformation about immunisation to celebrating local biologists and their work.

Those grand achievements have humble origins. Ann—her maiden name was Robinson—was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, in 1956. Her greatgrandmother was illiterate. Her mother, a medical secretary, left school at 13, while her father, who became an electrical engineer, left at 14. At this time her family’s experience of education was limited and their enthusiasm for it muted. When Ann’s mother won a book as a Sunday school prize, her grandmother was not impressed. ‘Why do we want that? We’ve already got a book.’ They had—it was the family Bible!

But times were changing. Ann earned a place at Boston High School for Girls a year early and was the first in her family to go to university. Her parents were supportive—they may not have had much education themselves, but they valued the opportunity for their daughter. Ann’s brother went to Imperial College London, one cousin became a judge, one a financial advisor and three others became teachers. ‘Our family was an example of the impact of free education for everybody. Once it became available, most of us went to either teacher-training college or university.’

Ann took sciences at A-Level, drawn by the lure of lab work, despite an equally compelling love of literature and the arts—particularly drama. ‘I thought, “I can carry on with my passion for English. I can go to see plays, I can carry on acting, and writing—but I can’t do the biology that we do in the labs on my own.”’

Ann secretly set her mind on studying at Cambridge after a caravan trip to the city with her parents when she was 13. ‘I just thought it was the most beautiful, wonderful place.’ Living in rural Lincolnshire and cycling to school each day, she felt a place outside the city would suit her and life on two wheels held no fears. Girton was a natural fit. ‘It was absolutely the right college for me.’

If an interest in biological sciences had been kindled at school, that passion was fanned at Cambridge. It was the place where boundaries were being pushed and discoveries made. ‘Nearly everything I wrote about so confidently,’ she remembers thinking shortly after matriculating in 1974, ‘is not wrong but has been superseded—they know more here.’ That realisation was both terrifying and exciting for Ann.

‘I loved the lectures. I don’t think I missed one except for Saturday morning—Maths for Biologists.’ Even the disappointment in missing a place on the Physiology course for her final year turned out to be a blessing. Janet Harker, Vice-Mistress at the time, was Ann’s Director of Studies, and a zoologist. ‘She was wonderful, absolutely top of her field.’ Dr Harker wrote to Ann ‘I know you are going to be disappointed, but you’re going to do Zoology and Zoology is the best department in the University. You will love it.’

‘She was 100% right. It was a brilliant course, inspirationally taught – and I also discovered that research, my original career choice, was not for me.’ Instead, Ann undertook a PGCE, initially to bide time to decide what she really wanted to do. But the teaching bug bit hard. ‘I walked into a classroom and realised that taking science lessons was just biology plus drama—perfect.’

In the 1980s Ann was recruited to a project called SATIS (Science and Technology in Society), an industrybacked project to inject context into science teaching. ‘Science at that time was often taught in isolation, with little reference to its relevance in the real world. SATIS was ground-breaking, introducing things like role-play into the science lab.’

Ann’s familiarity with the advances at Cambridge informed and infused her writing. ‘I wrote an activity looking at in vitro fertilisation, which was very new.’ It may have been novel, but she had inside knowledge—Robert Edwards, one of the pioneers of IVF, had lectured her at Cambridge. Her interest in the advance led to a classroom resource for debating its ethical consequences.

SATIS was a giant success, and Ann’s writing career was launched. In the late 1980s the national curriculum was about to be introduced, and she pitched to six publishers a textbook on the societal aspects of science. All six wanted it. Ann found herself in the enviable position of having to interview publishers to decide who would have the privilege of producing the book. Before long Ann decided to commit to full-time writing, alongside producing four sons! From the mid-1990s, after a series of seminal A-Level texts, the books came thick and fast. As well as textbooks, Ann has branched out into special-interest works on IVF, forensics and transplant surgery, and even biographies of scientists including Charles Darwin, Marie Curie, Michael Faraday and Louis Pasteur.

Ann was also commissioned to write texts for the international market. Her books are used around the world in countries including Ethiopia, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Australia, the US, and throughout the Caribbean. Writing for a global audience has specific demands. In times past, British textbooks would often be shipped abroad and used without modification. Now, many countries develop their own curriculum, covering biology that is relevant to their students. ‘You’ve got to find ways of writing that resonate with your audience. I read, I research, I work with teachers and educationalists in the countries I’m writing for. I put in a lot of effort to make the books right.’ As a simple example, Caribbean textbooks often used to describe food chains involving grass, rabbits and foxes. But, as Ann wryly comments, ‘there is not a lot of grass in the Caribbean; there are no rabbits, and no foxes.’ Ann’s texts use food chains of hawks, lizards, insects and Caribbean plants—organisms the students see every day—and are illustrated with photographs by her husband, Tony. ‘Students learn unfamiliar concepts much more easily if the context is familiar and has relevance.’

Learning about relevant diseases is important. Many countries include attitudes to diseases such as HIV/AIDs, and the value of immunisation in their courses. Risks differ, too. ‘For example, cholera isn’t a problem in the UK,’ Ann says, ‘but if you’re living in a country with massive flooding, or in a refugee camp, it really matters.’ Climate is also a factor. ‘It’s no good writing about boilers producing a lot of carbon dioxide for a country where they don’t have central heating. But they may have other problems, such as the use of fuels for lighting and cooking that produce toxic fumes causing a range of health problems—and those are the issues I need to understand to write the textbooks.’

Underlining her belief in the power of education, Ann has also worked on the Learning Passport developed by UNICEF, the University of Cambridge and Microsoft to close the learning poverty gap. ‘It’s designed to help the 35 million children globally who are displaced by natural disasters, war or disease to retain the bones of a basic, locally focused education. Then, if they get the chance to go back into school, they are ready to learn.’

Ann feels strongly that her time at Girton—the inspirational teaching, the people she met, the study skills and confidence gained—has underpinned everything she has done since. She remains passionate about science and teaching. ‘I know my books have reached millions of students, not only in the UK but around the world, and that is just the most amazing thing.’ A Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, Ann received the 2020 President’s Medal for services to biology education and the Society. The reach of her work was further brought home when a Professor at Addis Ababa University sent her a photograph. She had written biology textbooks which were delivered to every school in Ethiopia, by mule train, helicopter and lorry. They covered biology education from research and reforestation in the country to issues including female genital mutilation and stigma about HIV/AIDS.

The photo was of a girl sitting under a tree in Ethiopia with a book. It was Ann’s biology text.

Photo credit: Tony Short