- Symmetry, and: "Herspace"
Symmetry
to Emmy Noether, 1882–1935
So what if no woman canenroll at university. Bosh!I audit classes, sit for exams—
crave equations, theorems, verseof mathematics—messy mixnature presents us.
I'm an expert in invariants, workeight years for an empty purse.Think of it—invariance—a circle
remains a circle no matter its place.A person weighs the same in Erlangenor Boston. A wheel spun on its axis
looks the same in all directions.In 1915 I went to Göttingen, doctoratesumma cum laude. No position.
I do not see that the sex of the candidateis an argument against her, Professor Hilbertsnarled. After all, we are a university, not
a bathhouse. Hilbert failed to swaythe faculty, but needed help to findthe hidden symmetries of relativity. [End Page 242]
He does his best for me—small stipend—not a salary. I persist, noticethe universe's matter and antimatter bend
with opposite charge, yet balancefrom moment to moment. No distinctionbetween the two! I chase
electrons the way Heron of Alexandriachased light rays to infer the lawof refection. My theorem explains how
matter and energy are linked, sky spillingenergy from stars born aeons ago,matter—all we are. I feel my hair spinning
off sparks, wisps flying from pins! Moleculesdance when I talk mathematics.I swim at the men-only pool. [End Page 243]
"Herspace"
I have not by any means been a linear oriented professional person.
—noel phyllis birkby, 1932–1994
And what crime is a pocketful of strings,I ask, when knitting and weavinghave long been woman's work, strings
but lines—dip down, dip up again—design akin to a journey acrossa tapestry—akin to planning
a dwelling, a plaza, an open space.And what might we women build, I ask,if we were given carte blanche?
I contemplate the harmonies of massand line; calculate the densitiesto bear a structure's stress; surface
an étude of curves, angles, bluesof sky and river bouncing lightoff facets the way arpeggios
bounce off violin and harp. In artschool I studied Mondrian—his gridironof discipline able to stabilize color, as a barre
stabilizes a dancer, or aluminum beamsstabilize a geodesic dome with gossamerlightness, a synthesis that nurtures human [End Page 244]
connection—like my Waterside Plaza that sitsalong the Hudson, where the sun's lusterslants of water, beckons and sustains
a place waiting for human footprints—a built environment to welcome all.We women build. I come with blueprints. [End Page 245]
edythe haendel schwartz is the author of two poetry collections, A Palette of Leaves and Exposure. Her poems have appeared in Faultline, Spillway, and Poet Lore.