Scientists, Wizards, and Poets

"You must be ready to burn yourself in your own flame; how could you rise anew if you have not first become ashes?" - Nietzsche

For the Littles:

Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky
We are rereading this (with five kids, you have to circle back on the good books every so many years - the younger ones won’t remember them). I almost prefaced this by saying that I have four daughters so it’s important to study these women pioneers - however, I’m just as interested in my son learning about these smart ladies. So! This book has a really cool design, and what I’ve liked best is reading about one woman a day then following up with picture books (which will explain my next few choices…). There’s one for women in sports (skip for me - we aren’t much of a sporty family), and one for women in arts (I’ll buy that one for our home library).

Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakeable Mathematician Sophie Germain
Sophie grew up in the 18th century, and her equations on sound vibrations made modern architecture possible. She really was unstoppable! As a child, her parents took away her candles so she wouldn’t stay up all night doing math (what!?), but they eventually gave in when they found her asleep at her desk next to a frozen bottle of ink, face down on a page of equations. She couldn’t take classes because she was a woman, so she did all the math homework via mail without ever stepping foot in a classroom - her professor eventually went to meet this guy who was getting all the math correct without coming to class, only to find that it was Sophie. I can imagine how frustrating it must have been for her, to have this incredible gift for numbers but not be allowed to fully explore it because of her culture. I admire her tenacity, and I thought this was a great example of working hard at what you love.

Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine by Laurie Wallmark
There are many, many books about Ada Lovelace, the first to write a computer program, but I liked the illustrations in this one, so it’s my top pick. She was the aristocratic daughter of the wild poet Lord Byron (the term “Byronic” comes from Lord Byron - "a man proud, moody, cynical, with defiance on his brow, and misery in his heart”) - but Lady Byron left him early on in Ada’s life, so he really didn’t play much of a role. Because of Ada’s poet father though, her mother wanted to squelch any harmful poetic tendencies inherited from Lord Byron and focused Ada’s education on math and science, unusual for women at the time (though Lady Byron was a mathematician and astronomer in her right). Ok, the book does NOT get into all of this - it focuses on Ada’s love for math, which grew after she was rendered temporarily blind and paralyzed from measles for a year. She met Charles Babbage, who invented the first computer machine and wrote the first code for a computer that could do complex calculations. I thought this was a good basic biography that emphasized Ada’s persistence and dedication to what she loved.


For Family Readaloud:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Have you heard of it?
My oldest three experienced some Potter-mania about five years ago, but my youngest two were too little to remember the audiobooks, the family readaloud times, the butter beer, the figuring out which house you belong to (Ravenclaw, obviously). So we are rereading the entire series. The books are imperfect - there are some plot holes if you think about it too long - but overall I think Rowling does a good job with creating an immersive world and characters you can root for. Except for Ron - I think she could have killed him off so Harry could end up with Hermione. But that is some books from now….

For Myself:
Limited Editions by Carole Stone
Often poetry collections that are focused on today are by poets fresh out of their MFA programs, prodigies, the up-and-coming. But there is value in reading a collection from someone with significant life experience, a perspective we can learn from. The poems are accessible (easy for anyone to read) but poignant, following the death of her husband after their long lifetime together. She grapples with her own aging, her new life living alone. But what I liked best about her writing is that it is never overdone - she is content to let you sit in that moment without pushing too hard for epiphany. This book is the culmination of a lifetime of poetic study. You can read her poem “Marriage” HERE.

Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss by Margaret Renkl
In a podcast interview, I heard Renkl describe this book as “pagan devotionals,” and I think that is exactly right. Not that they are of the devil, they just remind me of devotionals because they are short contemplative essays, focused on moments of nature, aging, and family history. I liked reading one or two a day.

Writing Updates:
My article Tidy Up! is on the Rabbit Room Substack - basically it’s just me being your Poetry Mom. Go clean your room!
And my poem “I was given Leviathan” is up in the latest issue of Poems for Persons of Interest
I also have a poem in the latest newsletter of Inkwell
I’m all over the place this month! I guess this is what happens when I actually send my poems out to magazines.

In other news, my Sharon Olds class starts today, Louise Gluck begins June 1st, AND I am writing a class on Sylvia Plath set to begin August 1st. I was your typical teenager reading The Bell Jar in full angst, so I’m really nerding out with the research for this class. Sign up! Still spots open, and I’d love to work with you!