After a thoughtful "Foreword" by Pippa Goldschmidt, we find 68 poetic snapshots of math women --going back as far as the 12th century and continuing into the the present. Here is a sample:
CHARLOTTE ANGAS SCOTT (1858-1931) by Jessy Randall
When I was at college for mathematics
I attended Cambridge lectures
from behind a screen, of course.
So the male students couldn't see me.
(I might have distracted them.)
And so I had to picture all the numbers
in my head. I had no view of the board.
Maybe the strain of all that imagining
is why I tied for 8th place on the exam.
Being female, I was not allowed
to attend the ceremony.
Nor could my name be read aloud.
But when the list got to 8th place
the men called out SCOTT
and cheered, and waved their hats.
Or so I'm told.
I wasn't there.
The poem above is found on page 38 of Mathematics for Ladies.
This poem brings tears to my eyes.
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