The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1889-12-20
1.-THE FEMALE MIND"
Facts Prove that IL IL Capable OF Grasping
and Holding as Much rs the Male Mind.

Facts Prove that IL IL Capable OF Grasping
and Holding as Much rs the Male Mind.
After reading the account given in a
recent Woman's Journal of the debate
in the Georgia Senate on the question of
admitting women to the State Universe
ty, Miss Ellen A. Hayes, Professor of
pathematics in Wellesley College,
wrote letter to the Atlanta Constitu-
ton in which she utterly routed the
Senator who ''never saw woman who
would look at logarithm." Prof.
Hayes says:
The Senator seems not only never to
have tried to see such a woman, but in
voting against the admission of women
to the university of his State he is
resolved to preserve himself, if posi-
BILE, from ever seeing one. Con-
sidering the sweeping nature Of
some of the Senator's statements, and
his disregard of easily accessible facts,
his reference to mathematics and sci
ence was unfortunate. A scientific man
will be cautious in his data and J; IS
logic before affirming that women are
disguised the minute you enter sci
ence and astronomy. AS bearing on
the question of women and mathe-
mates l beg. leave to state a few of
the facts, and l take them from one
college where six hundred young women
are studying. In respect to geographical
distribution these students represent
Georgia, with half dozen foreign coun-
tries in addition. All of them study
mathematics throughout their freshman
year, and all candidates for the degree
of Il. S. continue the study, reading
analytic geometry through the sopho-
more year. In the last two years math-
ematics is elective for all. At this
bers twenty-five, being twenty-three per
cent. of the entire junior class. invite
a comparison Of this per cent. with the
per cent Of young men who elect cal
culus under the same circumstances,
:. e., who are pursuing a course in the
liberal arts and are not reading for the
profession of engineer. Young men in
polytechnic schools, where calculus is
required subject, have been known to
express surprise that so many young
women take the subject when not
obliged to do SO.
Nobody is dragging these students
through calculus, nobody urged them to
elect it; they simply enjoy mathematics
and wish to learn more. And it need
not be imagined that the course is
''soft" one, adapted to the female
mind" Comparisons may be made on
this point also. Last year six young
women, members of the senior class in
this institution, read Celestial Dynam-
les and the theory of Orbit Determine
tion. Near the close of the year they
were given their chOice-more theory or
the determination of the orbit of
comet. They were distinctly informed
that the latter would be very laborious,
and they knew that one undetected mis-
take would vitiate the result. They
choose the orbit, went pluckily to work
and completed the computation, deter
mining the elements with success. The
manuscript of the work contains over
eight hundred logarithms. This year
eight students have elected the same
subject, and are reading Oppolzer in
French and German, since there is no
English translation of the Bahnbestino-
mung. 1t is study which young men
rarely undertake, except as they are
looking forward to careers as astrono-
mers. Let US have fair play, and let US
have the truth in regard to what women
have done and are doing. 1t is unjust
and unscientifc to maintain preju-
dice-born theories in spite of evidence.
An old cardinal refused to look into Gal
ileo's telescope from fear that he might
see Juriter's moons; and the existence
of such moons was contrary to Scrip