At center of photo, my mother. Around her, ten men. Location is IBM in London, 1966.

“Well Paid for a Woman”: Gloria Hardman’s 50-Year Career in Computing (IEEE: Annals of the History of Computing)

If you know me or are even an occasional reader of this blog, you’ll know that I talk a lot about my mother, Gloria Hardman. That’s because, to borrow the title of Jason Reynolds’ excellent podcast, my mother made me. (Also, do check out his podcast.) Beyond being my mother, Gloria is an important person

Pi sculpture, Seattle, Washington

Happy π Day from Nine Kinds of Pie

π Day is upon us once again! Here are 3.14 pieces of Pi (as it were). 1. The π sculpture in Seattle, Washington. Photo by Niall Kennedy. 2. π to 1000 decimal places 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078 16406286208998628034825342117067982148086513282306647093844609550582 23172535940812848111745028410270193852110555964462294895493038196442 88109756659334461284756482337867831652712019091456485669234603486104 54326648213393607260249141273724587006606315588174881520920962829254 09171536436789259036001133053054882046652138414695194151160943305727 03657595919530921861173819326117931051185480744623799627495673518857 52724891227938183011949129833673362440656643086021394946395224737190 70217986094370277053921717629317675238467481846766940513200056812714 52635608277857713427577896091736371787214684409012249534301465495853 71050792279689258923542019956112129021960864034418159813629774771309 96051870721134999999837297804995105973173281609631859502445945534690 83026425223082533446850352619311881710100031378387528865875332083814 20617177669147303598253490428755468731159562863882353787593751957781 8577805321712268066130019278766111959092164201989 This website lists π out to its

Pi pie

Nine Kinds of Pie

Happy Pi Day!  In recognition of 3.14 (today) and this blog’s Pi pie avatar (logo?), here are Nine Kinds of Pie (loosely defined). 1. The ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter: 3.1415926535.  When I was a kid, I memorized the number out to its tenth decimal point. On a long strip of paper,

Horizontal Asymptotes

Back-to-School Special, Part I: Children’s Literature & Asymptotes

In my decade of teaching Children’s Literature at the university level, I’ve learned a lot.  But I never feel that I’ve learned quite enough to teach the grad class Critical Approaches to Children’s Literature.  I’m grateful that I’m teaching it now and not ten years ago, but it’s one of those courses that makes me