Hypatia > Recent Status Updates

"Je suis ce que je rois etre. Et je suis prisonnière de l'histoire que je raconte sur moi-même."

"Lives change, turn, pivot on small things, accidents of timing. We are proceeding in a given direction and then ... we are not. Sometimes for reasons we don't grasp, even if we have a nature that causes us to look back."

So many good lines in this book: "Power wasn't about the ability to bend another's will to their agenda. Power wasn't about hurting others. Power was about being a shield, to protect others from harm. It didn't have to be destructive or oppressive. It didn't need to erase another's humanity. It could connect and include."

"All journeys are marked by failure. How you respond to those failures defines who you are."

I love this: "The tension of not agreeing is where creativity is sparked"

"True courage comes when there is nothing we can do to stop the darkness, but we still hold the torch for those who must walk the hardest paths."

Just finished the chapter on the Sufis (Chapter 7), and I think it’s very interesting. Ansary talks about the renunciation of science and the constriction of women’s roles in society around 1000 CE. I can see some parallels to current times, when science skepticism is so wide spread. There aren’t enough details in this book to delve into the parallels, but it would be an interesting study.

I'm almost done this book, and I've found my favourite line.
"Voltaire took advice from Maupertuis, but his greatest assistance came from his mistress Émilie du Châtelet. In contrast to Volatire, Émilie really did understand mathematics and physics..."

I think the part where Kate describes herself moving from a world of vision to a world of touch is a really good metaphor for the changes and demands of parenting.

I'm really enjoying the story, but there's a bunch of discrepancies that are starting to really bother me. For example: Why are there flowers on a planet with no insect life? The plants have all adapted to distribute their seeds without aid, but they still produce flowers? St. Libra is 2x the size of Earth, the gravity should be 1.4-2x stronger, assuming it's got the same density, but no one ever mentions this.

I love this - Mor is a girl after my own heart.
"Interlibrary loans are a wonder of the world and a glory of civilization"
"eight books sounds (and feels!!) like a lot, but it isn't as if they'll last me all week."

This is just too mathy to read during the semester. Saving it for April or May, 'cause it looks really interesting!

Northanger *Alley*? Really? In a book about books?

I was enjoying this a lot until I got to the part where people are watching a lunar eclipse in the pouring rain. Possible, yes, but somewhat unlikely I think.

Still enjoying this. I find the description of some of the rhetoric surrounding America's entry into WWI interesting. It's disturbingly similar to some of the ongoing rhetoric today about the fight for democracy.

Loving this so far. The use of language is beautiful.