Hypatia of Alexandria is one of the more intriguing figures of history. Very few women in antiquity have had their voices carry forward to us in the 21st century CE but of those she was probably the most 'modern' in outlook. She was an independent and very powerful thinker, a standard very few people of either gender could reach either then or now. It's exactly what got her into trouble, too.
Hypatia was killed, and the library of Alexandria (or what was left of it after six previous burnings) was burned for the last time, by a group of fanatics who were intimidated by her scholarship. Christian scholars accused her for centuries of paganism and witchcraft; secularists hold her up as a model of free thought against an oppressive church. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. She had both Christian and pagan students in her academy, and was an advisor to the Christian governor of Alexandria. The local bishop, jealous of her influence, stirred up a known troublemaker to get rid of someone he saw as a political threat. It's not that different from what happens today, except murder, arson, and probable sexual assault (usually) don't play into the picture.
At the risk of being overly sentimental, Hypatia has always been the personification of the sciences to me. Science is a thing of beauty, demanding of one's time and resources to get the best possible return. And for me personally, like Hypatia herself science has been notoriously unapproachable.
That liability was exposed when I took my first real science classes in college and found out that I needed serious math to go forward. I probably could have done better if I had remained focused and not lost sight of my goal. Hanging out with Fundamentalists and pursuing a woman who was probably about as receptive as Hypatia herself would have been to my attention didn't help my cause. Everyone would have been happier had I stayed the course: the woman I was chasing would have had some peace; the Fundamentalists would have found themselves a more tractable recruit; and I would have a physics degree. I realized my mistake, but too late to correct in time to get a science degree. So I settled for a degree in history and made a promise to myself that I would find a way to get back to my metaphorical true love.
24 years later...
I'm now on the verge of a return, thanks in no small part to my actual true love, Sandy, who met me along the way and has been very patient these past few years with my angst and the time I've spent finding my way back. I've never lost touch with the sciences, being an amateur astronomer in my spare time and courtesy of some professional certifications a quality engineer by profession. I also managed to pick up enough science units to do a lot of science-related work over the years. But it don't mean a thing unless I have those magic initials after my name.
Now it's time. Three challenges remain ahead of me.
First, I need to finish my Masters thesis. I'm about halfway done with the first draft. The events of the past year slowed me down significantly but I'm ready to get back in the game. I spent the weekend cleaning my office in the garage partly so I could find my notes.
Second, I need to retake the GRE. I took it 20 years ago and my scores were high enough to qualify me for Mensa (which at the time accepted GRE scores as qualifying). But the test has changed significantly since then. Time to review, review, review!
Third, and most daunting, is the subject that killed me in college:
Fortunately I saved my textbook and the student solutions manual, and I had a calculus review a few years ago that I did well on. I even have my old calculus book, which was so novel in the late 1980's that it actually contained 'computer problems'. It may as well be engraved on stone tablets now, but the principles are still sound as they were in the 1600's when Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz unleashed them on the world.
So guess what I'm doing this summer? That's right...in between work and taking care of my family, I am going to review, review, review!
And sometime next year, I will finally be on speaking terms with Hypatia again...
