Mathematical Digest
Short Summaries of Articles about Mathematics
in the Popular Press"Two Good Women, or Too Good to Be True?," by Paula Gould. Science, 7 June 2002. Gould is skeptical of the Victorian and Edwardian biographies of MarySomerville (1780-1872), mathematician, and Caroline Herschel(1750-1848), astronomer, in which the two women were usually portrayedas martyr-like heroines---domestic, "diligent, well-behaved, navigatingtheir way around possible objections with ease, silencing any possibledissenting voices by combining an appropriate model of dutiful, ladylikeconduct with their scientific studies." --- Annette Emerson |
