It is not a new idea that women do not have scientific aptitude, that teaching them requires special accommodation. Here, in a poem by one of the greatest scientists of all time, is a description of a condescending lecture to a female student, individually and behind a curtain, followed by her mocking reply.
Lectures to Women on Physical Science by James Clerk Maxwell (1831-79)
I. PLACE. —A small alcove with dark curtains.
The class consists of one member.
SUBJECT.—Thomson’s Mirror Galvanometer.
The lamp-light falls on blackened walls,
And streams through narrow perforations,
The long beam trails o’er pasteboard scales,
With slow-decaying oscillations.
Flow, current, flow, set the quick light-spot flying,
Flow current, answer light-spot, flashing, quivering, dying.
Showing posts with label lecture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lecture. Show all posts
Monday, December 28, 2015
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