
A Lady Logician - Hooke
https://thonyc.wordpress.com/2017/10/10/a-lady-logician/
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mcguire
As always, the fun's in the footnotes.

" _In my days as a logic historian I spent a not very pleasant two weeks in
the British Newspaper Library in Colindale (the tenth circle of hell), amongst
other things, going through the Educational Times looking for contributions on
the algebra of logic. During this search I came across the Bertrand Russell
contribution, which I showed, some time later, to a leading Russell scholar of
my acquaintance, who shall remain here nameless. Imagine my surprise when
shortly afterwards an article was published by said Russell expert explaining
how he had discovered Russell’s first ever mathematical publication in the
Mathematical Questions column of The Educational Times. He made no mention of
the fact that it was actually I who had made the discovery._ "

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jordigh
From the title, I thought this was going to be about Julia Robinson:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Robinson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Robinson)

I don't know why that's the most famous female logician I could think of.
Maybe because Matiyasevich credits her very self-effacedly whenever he talks
about the 10th problem.

But regarding the actual article...

"Only by arguing that she was too ugly to get a husband was she able to
persuade her father and grandmother to allow her to study at the women’s
college Vassar."

Holy crap, I wonder how much of this still happens.

~~~
astura
True story.

In the late 70s my grandmother was annoyed at my aunt (her daughter)'s
decision to finish high school instead of dropping out. She actually said
this:

"You don't need a high school diploma to push a baby carriage."

Yeah, sure that's not "now," but now we make it into "wholesome" TV. (The
Duggars)

~~~
peterwwillis
Now it's less gender stereotype and more necessity (though both still apply).

In the past 50 years there has been a tectonic shift in single motherhood, and
the implications thereof make education a much less pressing concern than
others. Even when you finish school, kids today are at a significant
disadvantage as test scores continue to plummet. In some areas of the US
there's no significant advantage to finishing high school. And after having a
child very young with no other parent to help raise it, going to school may
not be a choice one can reasonably make.

Women today face not only discrimination and abuse, they are left rearing
children and trying to make ends meet starting in their teens, with large
racial and economic biases. This is the reality we should really be shocked
by, and not just the vestiges of our recent past.

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taneq
A lady logician. Or, as I refer to her, a logician.

~~~
astura
In general, I agree. However, this article was all about how being a woman
limited her career, so here it's appropriate and on topic.

~~~
peterwwillis
It makes more sense as a longer title, such as "A Lady Logician In The 19th
Century", which is equivalent to "A Black Major League Baseball Player In The
19th Century".

~~~
astura
Good point.

