If 1718 is a poem title . . .

If 1718 is a poem title, 

the poem should celebrate Marie Gaetana Agnesi (1718-1799)

author of the first book about both differential and integral calculus.

This post celebrates not only Agnesi (who was born 301 years ago today) but also present-day mathematician and writer Evelyn Lamb who produces lively and informative articles about STEM topics and people.  Go here to read Lamb's article about Agnesi for the Smithsonian Magazine on May 16, 2018 -- celebrating Agnesi's 300th birthday.
     Several years ago, in her Scientific American Blog, Roots of Unity, Lamb examined "the chain rule" of calculus -- its fascination, its difficulty, its importance -- and she links it all to lines by T S Eliot .  And today, again using Eliot's words, I celebrate both Maria Agnesi -- the first woman to become a university mathematics professor -- and Evelyn Lamb, who has brought Agnesi to life for us.

from  Little Gidding     by T. S. Eliot

       We shall not cease from exploration
       And the end of all our exploring
       Will be to arrive where we started
       And know the place for the first time.

The poem "Little Gidding" is the fourth long poem in a splendid collection of Eliot's verse called Four Quartets; the entire text of the quartets may be found here.  Links to several of my earlier postings that feature Lamb's work  may be found here.