Science and Inquiry discussion

In case you didn't know: today, October 15, is the fourth annual celebration of Ada Lovelace Day! Ada Lovelace Day is a holiday honoring the elaborately coiffed daughter of Lord Byron who grew up to achieve fame in her own right as the world's first computer programmer.

Ada was a fascinating historical figure: her birth name was Augusta Ada Byron, as she was named after her aunt Augusta Leigh, with whom her father was widely rumored to have conducted an incestuous relationship. During childhood, Ada was beset by a series of mysterious illnesses that temporarily rendered her half-blind and bedridden. Ada's own mother was alleged to have disliked her on account of her father (Lord Byron)'s infidelities. Ada's mother nevertheless encouraged her to pursue her "unfeminine" interest in mathematics, perhaps in order to be as different from her poetry-scribbling father as possible.

Several reviews of my book Six Rivers noted Ada Lovelace's role as an inspiration and "intellectual grandmother" for my poetry (I have a degree in mathematics in addition to being a poet). Here's an excerpt from my poem "Ada Lovelace," which appeared in Six Rivers :

One of Mother’s most trusted confidants
was a hobbling, grandfatherly man. “This, Ada, is Mr. Friend.
I have asked him to tutor you in mathematics.
Mathematics, Ada, refreshes and strengthens the mind.”

I felt at ease with Mr. Friend. Like the doctors,
he seemed not to notice the breasts
that, when I was ten,
sprouted beneath my dress like one-eyed potatoes.

Mr. Friend talked to me about algebra as if I were a boy.
He seized up geometric concepts as though they were cold-blooded eels,
sliced off their heads, and proceeded
to dissect them with sexless fervor.

“So what if you’re a girl?” he wheezed.
“Why shouldn’t a girl study mathematics?”

Then, one day, the eels came alive for me,
and I felt as if I were standing on their backs,
and they were helping me walk on water.

Excellent!

And looks like an interesting book of poetry.

Thanks, Kenny.