Mathematics for Ladies

Jessy Randall is the author of the poetry collections How to Tell If You Are Human (2018), Suicide Hotline Hold Music (2016), There Was an Old Woman (2015), Injecting Dreams into Cows (2012), and A Day in Boyland (2007), a finalist for the Colorado Book Award. Her poems and stories have appeared in Poetry, McSweeney’s, Nature, and Scientific American. Pippa Goldschmidt is a writer based in Edinburgh, UK and Frankfurt, Germany. Much of her writing explores the hidden lives of scientists and their work. She is co-editor of I Am Because You Are, a specially commissioned anthology of fiction celebrating general relativity, and Uncanny Bodies, an anthology of fiction, poetry and academic writing inspired by the uncanny. Her short stories, poetry and non-fiction have been published in a variety of magazines and anthologies, most recently in Mslexia, Litro, Scottish Review of Books, New Writing Scotland, and the New York Times, and broadcast on Radio 4.Working at the intersection of science and design, Kristin DiVona is the Visual Information Specialist for NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory, one of NASA’s Great Observatories. Her responsibilities for Chandra include spearheading the creation, distribution, and evaluation of large-scale science and technology communications projects.

The only good science fiction poems ever written are by Jessy Randall. —Annalee Newitz, author of The Future of Another Timeline and AutonomousI never get tired of learning about women who achieved great things despite obstacles. There are so many of them—and so many of them did not get their due. —Katha Pollitt, Women’s Review of BooksFrom caterpillar study to the stars, from electricity to chromosomes, Jessy Randall inhabits women scientists throughout history in this captivating collection of lyrical biographies. Randall brings overlooked pioneers in science and mathematics to life while enriching a modern audience—I learned so much reading Mathematics for Ladies! Randall’s poems vary in length and also in voice: at turns lyrical and metaphoric, with fascinating source texts woven in, there are moments of stark confession as the speaker looks directly to the reader: “The truth is I married for science./ It was a way in. Like/ aradiate, I got what I wanted/ without attracting undue attention.” The movement between narration and symbolism is masterfully done. As Randall says in “Mary Treat”: “I write/ like a woman and invite readers in.” This book is a must for lovers of poetry and science alike! —Emily Hockaday, Poetry Editor, Analog Science Fiction & Fact and Asimov’s Science Fiction