Mathematics classes are crowded with vital material and it is hard to find time to also consider the PEOPLE of mathematics -- one way to do this is by offering poems. In the September issue of Math Horizons, my brief article, "Mathematics and Poetry" offers a variety of samples -- introducing poems by mathematicians (including William Rowan Hamilton) and poems about mathematicians (Brian McCabe writing about Sophie Germaine, Cathryn Essinger writing about her super-logical brother).
Here are a pair of lines from Voltaire about mathematician and scientist Émilie Du Châtelet:
She has, I assure you, a genius rare.
With Horace and Newton, she can compare.
A wonderful poem to add to those quoted in the article is in the voice of a math student who protests discrimination; it is by Caribbean-American poet Audre Lorde (1934-1992) and entitled "Hanging Fire" -- the complete poem is posted here.
I should have been on the Math Team
my marks were better than his
Here is a link to a pdf of the Math Horizons article. The article does not contain web-links, BUT each of the poems may be found by searching this blog using the poet's name.
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