Monday, December 6, 2010
Are all mathematicians equal?
Today, history books proclaim that Noether
is the greatest mathematician
her sex has produced. They say she was good
for a woman.
Saturday, January 3, 2015
2014 (and prior) -- titles, dates of posts
Dec 30 Be someone TO COUNT ON in 2015
Dec 28 A Fractal Poem
Dec 25 A thousand Christmas trees
Dec 24 The gift of a poem
Dec 20 The Girl Who Loved Triangles
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Bold women count
Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing by Margaret Atwood
The world is full of women
who'd tell me I should be ashamed of myself
if they had the chance. Quit dancing.
Get some self-respect
and a day job.
Wednesday, March 8, 2023
International Women's Day
Today, March 8, is International Women's Day -- a day to pause, recognize, and celebrate the achievements and abilities of women (and their equality with men).
In my poetry-stanza below I celebrate Laura Church -- my high school math teacher (in Indiana, PA) a bold spokesperson for math-for-all back in the 1950s AND the woman who led me into mathematics.
Chalk in hand,
she tosses her book,
strides across the room,
excited by trigonometry,
excited that we,
restless in our rows,
caught some of it.
Flamboyant, silver,
fearless woman.
The stanza above is part of "The Ones I Best Remember" -- the full poem is available here.
Recognition and celebration of women in mathematics has increased dramatically since my high school days. On of the important advocates is the Association for Women in Mathematics, founded in 1971, and often mentioned in this blog. Here is a link to a poem that celebrates AWM.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Women in Mathematics Count!
For still more, visit my 2015 post "The culture for women in math and the sciences"; additionally, a search of this blog using "math women" will lead to a host of names and links. Enjoy!
Here are the closing lines of a poem of mine about the brilliant mathematician, Emmy Noether (1883-1935):
In spite of Emmy's talents,
always there were reasons
not to give her rank
or permanent employment.
She's a pacifist, a woman.
She's a woman and a Jew.
Her abstract thinking
is female and abstruse.
Today, history books proclaim that Noether
is the greatest mathematician
her sex has produced. They say she was good
for a woman.
Monday, October 12, 2020
Brilliant Math-Women -- Share the News!
Recently (10/10/2020), NPR had an interview with former teachers of Louisville shooting victim Breonna Taylor -- an interview that celebrated her love of and talent for mathematics. Read about it here. I write to applaud this celebration AND to encourage increased recognition of math-women while they are alive.
A wonderful way to celebrate math-women is the annual essay contest sponsored by the Association for Women in Mathematics -- open to students from middle school to college; contest information is available here. Interviews may be conducted now; essay submission begins December 1.
A repeat from this posting back in 2010 |
Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Lost Women of Science
One of the fascinating websites that I have found recently "Lost Women of Science" -- a podcast series available at https://www.lostwomenofscience.org/. This site has lots of bios and I browsed among them using the search term "mathematics". One of the fascinating stories that I found is that of Naomi Livesay -- who played a key role in the Manhattan project.
Learn more about Naomi Livesay at this link. |
These recent considerations of women in science have led me to recall a blog posting that I made back in June of 2012 that featured this poem of mine (with stanzas that are syllable-squares):
Saturday, December 18, 2010
An Elegy from Argentina
Here, in recognition of the contributions of Cora Sadosky, is "An Elegy" by Argentinian poet Mirta Rosenberg. Using Rosenberg's words for her mother, we celebrate a foremother in mathematics:
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Found poetry -- Mary Cartwright
I regret to say that my impression
when I began research was that, in general,
less qualified men were employed quite a lot,
which eliminated some quite good women.
Monday, March 18, 2019
Looking back . . . titles, links to previous posts
- March 13 An Interview of/by a Mathy Poet
- March 11 Celebrate Pi-Day on 3.14
- March 6 Celebrate Math-Women with Poems!
- March 4 Math in 17 Syllables
- Solving for X, Searching for LIFE
- Stories of Black Mathematicians (event postponed)
- All Numbers are Interesting . . .
- George Washington, cherry tree, lifespan . . .
- Musical sounds of math words -- in a CENTO
- If 2017 was a poem title . . .
- Mathematics and Valentine's Day
- Speed flunking math . . . NO, NO!
- Quantum Lyrics -- Poems
Friday, March 11, 2016
Celebrate Math Women
To celebrate math-women one must first be able to name them; here is a link to an important and relevant article by Judy Green, "How Many Women Mathematicians Can You Name?"
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Poetry of Logical Ideas
Monday, May 3, 2021
Celebrate Math-Women -- Celebrate AWM
1 This
2 year's the
3 fiftieth
4 birthday of the
5 Association
6 for Women in Mathe-
7 matics. Join celebrations --
8 hear lectures, game with playing cards,
9 interview, write essays that feature
10 math women you admire. Speak up -- cheer girls
11 who do well in math class; look back, remember,
12 laud stars of the past -- support A W M.
The Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) is a national organization devoted to encouraging women and girls to study and to have active careers in the mathematical sciences, and to promote equal opportunity and the equal treatment of women and girls in the mathematical sciences. Founding in 1971 and celebrating math-women with outreach, networks and partnerships, playing cards, essay contest (for students in middle school through college) . . . and so much more.
Explore AWM's Website and their lively WOMEN DO MATH site.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Tomorrow in San Diego -- Math Poetry Event
sponsored by the Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
With Reason: A Portrait by JoAnne Growney
Sophia Kovalevsky * (1850-1891)
Monday, November 6, 2017
Mathematics -- vital imagery in SO MANY poems . . .
An important resource for anyone seeking poetry-with-mathematics is the Journal of Humanistic Mathematics -- an online journal in which each biannual issue contains a varied selection of poems. Here is a link to the July 2017 issue for you to explore.
The humanistic side of mathematics has been explored for many years by the online British journal plus -- available here. Perhaps you'd like to read an article on "the mathematics of kindness" or survey their articles, videos and podcasts about math-women or read a math-poetry book review -- all this and so much more at plus.
Monday, March 8, 2021
Internat'l Day of the Woman--Name 5 Math-Women!
Today,
March 8, is International Day of the Woman for 2021. I continue to
consider the challenge that I heard offered lots of years ago concerning
women in the art world, Name FIVE.
Each of us who cares about mathematics should be able to name at least five
women who made important contributions to the field. A wonderful
resource is this website "Biographies of Women Mathematicians" -- maintained by Larry Riddle of Agnes Scott College that tells of the important lives of math women.
Here are a few lines that from a poem I wrote that celebrates algebraist Amalie "Emmy Noether" (1882-1935); read more here.
Emmy Noether's abstract axiomatic view
changed the face of algebra.
She helped us think in simple terms
that flowered in their generality.
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Women occupy mathematics
Here are the opening lines of "Circle of Silence" by Stacey K. Vargas:
Like an electron trapped in an unstable orbit, I am seated
in a circle of powerful men.
In an awkward moment small talk ends
and the meeting abruptly begins.
The superintendent turns to me and says,
"This was not sexual harassment."
And the opening lines of "The Typist" by Barbara Drake:
I made 87 1/2 cents an hour typing,
when I was a college student.
Monday, March 13, 2023
March is Women's History Month
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.)
Thursday, July 6, 2023
A Pioneering Woman
Born in Washington DC in 1924, Evelyn Boyd Granville graduated from Smith College in 1945 and in 1949 became the second African-American woman to receive a PhD from an American university -- from Yale. She worked primarily in computing. (July 7 update: from this morning's Washington Post I have sadly learned that Granville has passed -- on June 27, 2023).
Details of Granville's achievements may be found here and here. |
Monday, August 10, 2020
Poems can help us teach/learn mathematics . . .
Because when you practice math a lot,
it almost always pays off.