Kepler, in particular had been allotted a rectangular box in my Physics textbook. As a child, I remember reading about some of these people.

But what happens in between the stories of these people, as written in the book, is a work of literature that blends science, art, and life in a seamless combination, often impossible, and more importantly futile, to tell apart. Of the entire spectrum of humanity that has lived, why only these people? I suppose only Maria can answer that. In between, we read about Maria Mitchell, an astronomer, Margaret Fuller, a journalist and critic, Harriet Hosmer, a sculptor, and Emily Dickinson, prominent poet. It starts off with Johannes Kepler, famed for the discovery of the planetary motion, and weaves its way to the 20 th century to Rachel Carson, catalyst behind the environment movement. Figuring traces the stories of a handful of people- a cast of artists, writers and scientists – mostly women, mostly queer, as Maria herself writes on the back cover. Figuring talks of people whom I had seen mainly as a product of their intellect, their identity restricted to their achievements, and others, of whom I had no idea.

I am writing this after taking nearly half a day just to collect my thoughts and feelings. How do I even begin to summarize Figuring? When I finished reading it, I sat in silence and thought about all the people who were part of the book. “Lives interweave with other lives, and out of the tapestry arise hints at answers to questions that raze to the bone of life: What are the building blocks of character, of contentment, of lasting achievement? How does a person come into self-possession and sovereignty of mind against the tide of convention and unreasoning collectivism? Does genius suffice for happiness, does distinction, does love?” An article reviewing the titular book by the famed blogger and writer, Ms.

Maria popova figuring review