Penelope’s Loom

 She was one of the earliest 'glitterati' of Calculus, right up there with Sir Isaac Newton.  She was one of the first to write an important text in the subject, and was even more notable, in my humble opinion, because she was a woman of the eighteenth century. ok, so she is not exactly Hedy Lamarr, but who cares? "Her innovation was an equation known as "the witch of Agnesi."  Now, I cannot add two and two (which clearly equals 2,234), so I am going to quote from a better source than my mathematically challenged brain: The "witch of Agnesi" is a curve studied by Maria Agnesi in 1748 in her book  Instituzioni analitiche ad uso della gioventù italiana  (the first surviving mathematical work written by a woman). The curve is also known as cubique d'Agnesi or agnésienne, and had been studied earlier by Fermat and Guido Grandi in 1703. The name "witch" derives from a mistranslation of the term  averisera  ("versed sine curve," from t...

 Would you expect Heddy Lamarr? No, seriously! A film star from Hollywood's Golden Age, whose external life defied convention.  Today, she is called the "mother of wi-fi," but for years her accomplishments were largely forgotten. OK.  So what exactly did she do?  It was one of the more important scientific innovations of World War II.  Lamarr, with composer George Antheil, developed something called "frequency hopping spread spectrum technology."   Uh. ????????? It is repeated switching of an object's carrier frequency during any radio transmission, with the purpose of reduced interference, and to avoid detection (and interception). ? Think torpedoes.  This technology made it very difficult for the enemy to detect the trajectory of the weapon.  I'm sure that you can appreciate the value of their invention in a time of war.  But, what were other practical applications? Electronic eavesdropping (not wiretaps, per se).  Jamming multipl...

Well, who was she? Well, for one, she is touted for being one of the first astronomers in the United States.   She was the third of ten children, and belonged to a Quaker family--now, this is important, because this faith had an unusual (for the time) view of women.  For this group, women could actually speak in the church service, and perhaps offer their interpretations of the scripture.  From this background, a daughter could theoretically gain an education far ahead of other women who belonged to more traditional families. Her education veered towards the scientific, because her father was also an astronomer.  She also was more formally educated at a nearby school, where she specialized in both math and science. She was also a distant cousin to Benjamin Franklin! Now, while it was not exactly an honor to be vaguely related to a man who couldn't keep his dick in his pants, it is obvious that scientific curiosity does sometimes run in families.  As early a...

 My first exposure to this extraordinary woman, was a ridiculous/wondrously watchable film, starring Greer Garson as Marie, and Walter Pigeon as Pierre Curie (gag). movie . I loved that bloody movie.  But, as science and historical fact, ummmmmmm, no. It strikes me as completely disturbing, that this woman is largely forgotten today. Her work in the field of chemistry, in particular, was beyond brilliant, in my humble opinion.  In the late nineteenth century, in the male wonderland of the Sorbonne, she entered that cloistered world with the energy of a supernova. So, who was she? Well, here she is: OK.  So, she isn't Marilyn Monroe. So what.  Just look at this fascinating face! So...who was this woman? Well, Dear Reader, I am going to tell you about her now. Marie Sklodowska was born on November 7, 1867.  She was the daughter of teacher in the local equivalent of high school. Oddly enough, given the constricted time in which she lived, she was given a liber...