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A Visitor Pays a Compliment |
Below, a visitor expresses appreciation for the MOLTXIBIT on menstrual synchrony, and MOLT curator Geneva Kachman emails back:
Mon, 19 Sep 2005
First, I plan on hiding my magnifying glass. Then I’m joining the
dragon’s league! [A reference to the curator’s note of September 2005].
I’m a man who, just this evening, went on an Internet search for answers
and information about a subject I’ve come to know as “menstrual synchrony.” I
was married for 17 years to a lady who first introduced me to this theory, and
swore that the phenomenon actually took place within her place of business.
I’ve been interested ever since, but have never been convinced that it was
true.
I’m now engaged to another woman whom I’ve been
dating for about 3 years. She, too, tells me of this synchrony among women she
works with. For this reason I came upon your website, and found it so
intriguing I spent hours (too many...I have to work tomorrow) reading page
after page and link after link.
My reason for writing you is just that I want to
thank you for the information you have put forth. I am not as educated as you
are, but I do understand most of the information you have published here. I can
follow most of the mathematical data, and I agree completely with your
analyses. I wondered about variability of cycles until I dug deeper and saw
that you had covered that as well.
Above all, I admire your writing skills,
straight-forward approach, and your ability to make the subject understandable
to us “common folks”. I found your entire website very interesting!
Thanks again!
S.A.
_________________________________________________
Dear S.,
All I can say is, “Well – knock me over with a
feather!” Yours is the nicest (most flattering!) email I have ever recieved –
although I hope what’s on the MOLT website isn’t going to cause conflict with
your fiancee!
I don’t know about your not being “as educated” as I
am – if you are throwing around phrases like “mathematical data” and
“variability of cycles.” I have a BA in English from the University of Michigan
and an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop – BUT, I have always
been torn between poetry and science, and so probably have more science
coursework than the typical “dreamy-eyed writer.” I actually made it through a
“weeder” calculus course at Oakland University, home to many an engineering student
– it was tough, but, this may sound strange – all those differential equations
and so forth – just seemed like poetry to me – describing something fluid and
dynamic in precise language (although a very different language than poetry). I
only have a smattering of exposure to statistics, but whenever I’ve attempted
to delve into it on my own, I always think the same thing – “statistics is just
like poetry!” (I wonder how many statisticians would feel the same, reading
poetry – “poetry is just like statistics.”)
I wonder – could I include your email on the MOLT
website, as a testimonial – I can just use your initials, if you don’t want me
to use your name, or just put, “from a MOLT visitor” – Stodgy PhD menstrual
researchers (who shall remain nameless) (at least in this email) aren’t very
good at acknowledging the work of the less stodgy PhD-less, such as
myself...but, that is a whole ‘nother can of worms...
Congratulations on your engagement,
Geneva Kachman
_________________________________________________
Dear Geneva,
Thank you for your kind words. Rest assured, my
fiancee will have no problem with the information on your website.
I KNEW you had been edumacated (haha) in English and
writing! I just knew it...and I can spot it a mile away. What is so refreshing
about your style is that you possess the ability to write about scientific
subjects with such fluidity that it becomes interesting to the average reader.
In comparison, the average scientist/statistician/mathematician could not write
an interesting article if it fell upon his or her head from an overpass! And
the common writer has difficulty delving into detailed scientific subjects with
adequate authority to make the reader believe that he or she has any more than
a casual understanding of the subject at hand. You have the talent to have
combined the best of both, and your product is fantastic.
As for your comparisons of calculus and statistics to
poetry, I’m going to pretend that you lost me, just for the sake of humor...I
think of any comparison as an analogy such as:
Poetry is to Calculus as Heaven is to Hell
Statistics is to Poetry as Enslavement is to Freedom
Just kidding! I think I understand what you mean.
Mathematics, an exact science, must adhere to strict rules by its own nature.
Poetry allows much more freedom, but still there are rules which must be
followed. Consider the meter of iambic pentameter...that is nothing more than
math coming alive! Music, for that matter, is similar to math, in that it can
be reduced to an equation. I would go on, but I fear that I’ve already made
your head about to explode with boredom!
You absolutely have permission to include my email on
the MOLT website. Use my full name if it is to your advantage; otherwise, use
my initials only.
Take care, and good luck!
S.
X Go to "We Must Be Synchronizing!"