How to convert a strict “No” into a courageous “Yes”?
Being rejected leads basically to just two options – either accept it and move on or appeal the rejection and try again. One step backward, one could also think about how to reduce probability of a denial.
In her career experience, Sofya Kovalevskaya faced all the alternatives. As it works for many of us, she mastered solutions step-by-step, allowing her experience and inner tenacity to take the lead. Here we settle challenging no’s in Sofya's life chronologically and try to find out if any of the strategies she applied in the second half of the 19th century can be useful today.
"No, you can’t do any more maths!" – Father
It sounds unbelievable that a parent would prevent their child from studying algebra or geometry today, but that’s exactly what happened to Sofya when she was about 14 years old. She was getting private education and when it became clear that due to an extreme curiosity about mathematics the young lady started to forget about other subjects, her father decided to suspend the maths classes.
Mathematics (as many other fields too, though) was viewed then as a "men-powered" area, so the father did not believe his daughter would be able to at least enter the field, not to mention any success or earnings.
Also in the story
- five no's from Sofya Kovalevskaya's first-hand experience and her solutions to each of them
- the road to science a woman in the 19th century had to take
- the power of handshakes and a good will to help
Read full story
Looking for a detailed life story?
MacTutor Index – A large library of materials dedicated or related to Sofya Kovalevskaya; created by Edmund Robertson and John O'Connor of the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of St Andrews.