I am only partway through this thread, but... here I stir things a bit.
Bethberry quoted Letters thusly:
Quote:
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How quickly an intelligent woman can be taught, grasp his ideas, see his point--and how (with rare exceptions) they can go no further, when they leave his hand, or when they cease to take a personal interest in him
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Bethberry, if this rankles you, I understand. However, looking back over my own college career, it makes me smile, chuckle, and indulge a vague sense of guilt.
My father said that if I was going to major in physics (which I did), then I should also take math every single semester. So, after taking Calc 1, 2, 3, and Diff-E, what then? THe classes grew smaller, and often I was the only non-major in them. Yet how many times was I the favorite in the math class, with my quick grasp and ready answers? I took Complex Analysis for Applications, Number Theory, blah blah blah. I can't remember the names of all the classes I took. But my test scores were excellent, my class participation outstanding. No doubt those proffs thought well of me and had high hopes.
I haven't sharpened a Math Pencil since, and I graduated in '83.
Mea Culpa. I left behind a string of broken-hearted math proffs.
Poor dear naive Professor Tolkien, earnestly hoping to fan into flame a serious literary or philological interest in student after student-- most of whom only wanted an A for their class standing...
Now everyone at work will wonder what I'm smiling about.