Hi, my name is Kimberly Blessing. I'm a computer scientist, Web developer, standards evangelist, feminist, and geek. This is where I write about life, the Web, technology, women's issues, and whatever else comes to mind.
Math without breaking a nail
Wow, I’m impressed. Danica McKellar (from The Wonder Years) is all grown up (duh, we’re the same age) and is a mathematician! And she’s written a math book for middle-school-age girls.
My first thought was, how many parents will actually buy this for their daughters if they’re already wrapped up in the “math is hard (if you’re a girl)” culture? But then I remembered how many things (books, music, whatever) made it into my hands at that age… and I realized that there’s a good chance many girls could end up finding this book. And given Danica’s defense of looking at the big picture (talking about math and making cookies and fashion) there’s a good chance that more of those girls could learn that loving math doesn’t make you a freak or a geek or ugly… it’s just part of who you are. (Maybe this book could teach those anti-math parents a thing or two.)
The page two questions are great — and so are Danica’s smart and snappy responses. Questions like “What’s your favorite part of math to learn?” and “What helped you study in college?” aren’t your everyday questions, but they’re great ones for young adults to see adults answer in a serious manner.
The book, titled Math Doesn’t Suck: How to Survive Middle-School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail, is out now. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. I know a few girls for whom middle school isn’t all that far away…
…oh, and my favorite topic in math was algebra. I love algebra.
Comments (2)
Thanks for pointing this out! It sounds like a cool book. I was always a lone girly math geek when I was in school. I even got the Calculus award the year I graduated high school (and I’m still proud!) I ocassionally consider going to a educational store and picking up an algebra workbook just for fun.
I’ve always admired Danica McKellar too, especially since I found out that she was a geek too! Doesn’t she have a PHD in Physics or something like that? The article didn’t mention it…
20-minute yoga breaks! This is a girl after my own heart!
I think I might buy it just to check it out. Working at Techbridge (http://www.techbridgegirls.org) I learned that making something just a little pink in the beginning or just adding a tiny bit of crafts into something made it less intimidating for the girls to try something. But that is a tricky line to walk. If your girls are talking about how cute their circuit board is, rather than how exciting it was to program the machine they built, you probably did them a dis-service.
What I found was more compelling was encouraging the girls to tell me how they thought they could use the science or tech knowledge they were about to gain to help their families, neighborhoods, or the world. Everyone – girl or boy – wants to believe they have a greater
purpose.