The Fowler Cooper Publication Federation met 306 times. We were privy to 58 pivotal Shamy Book Club meetings, but what happened during the other 248 incidental book discussions? An exploration of the unexpected moments - and books - that make up our lives.

The Fowler Cooper Publication Federation

January 2025

Primary Topic: Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

Additional book(s) mentioned: Women in Science - 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky, The Glass Universe by Dava Sobel, The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer by Sydney Padua, Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World by Richard Rhodes

". . . forty-eight . . . forty-nine . . . fifty!"

Amy watched Ada placing each individual sprinkle with care on top of the newly frosted cupcake, before shaking some more out on her hand. "One . . . two -"

"Why are you counting the sprinkles?" she asked.

Ada sighed - so much like Sheldon! - and looked up, her father's eyes behind her glasses. "So that everyone gets the same amount."

"Why, though? They are so small no one will notice if one cupcake has a few more or a few less sprinkles than another."

"But I'll know." Ada blinked slowly - purposefully, Amy would have said - and looked back down at the fresh pastry in front of her. "Three . . . four . . . five . . ."

Opening her mouth to ask why fifty sprinkles then, and not, oh, say seven for her daughter's seventh birthday, Amy shut it again without comment. It wasn't worth making a fuss about. If it made Ada happy that was enough; it was her birthday-eve after all, and, of course, she was Sheldon's child.

Thinking of Sheldon, Amy looked down at her watch. She thought he'd be home by now. The demonstrations after work for potential donors couldn't be avoided despite his repeated attempts over the years to recuse himself from such gatherings, wisely pointing out that his work was theoretical whereas it was Leonard and Howard who engineered and built the equipment that would be demonstrated. Surely, though, he should be on his way home by now.

Amy let Ada continue to count as she put the last of the baking supplies away and the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Looking over at her daughter, she smiled at her performing the studious task, oblivious to Amy watching her. How was it possible her baby, her beautiful baby girl, was going to be seven tomorrow? Ada looked so old today, with her hair pulled back in the front like that. Her height only added to the effect. She should have been all knobby knees and pointy elbows at her height, but she carried her frame with such a poise at such a young age that Amy couldn't help but be jealous. Still in her school uniform, she was even dressed sensibility and not in one of her usual outrageous choices. Her new adult teeth came in straight and didn't seem too big for her mouth at all, unlike poor Fenny. Even the scar on her lower lip, that jagged pink reminder of the horrible events in Texas the past summer, was quickly fading.

Belle sat on the empty stool next to Ada at the island, almost inseparable from her human, her little orange feline head poking up over the lip of the countertop. She, too, was studying the sprinkle laying with great seriousness.

Shaking her head slightly, Amy went to the dining table to pick up her iPad and scanned her new emails. Mostly nothing important but there was one from Missy, asking if Ada's birthday present had arrived and mentioning that her sons were excited about the forecast for an exceedingly rare East Texas snow storm the next weekend. Amy sent back a quick reply (the gift had arrived, thank you, and she hoped Levi and Ezra wouldn't be too disappointed if the forecast collapsed) and then opened the daily email form sent by Ada's teacher. She quickly skimmed the grades given today (all A's) and the behavior report (acceptable, no incidents of concern) and read the announcements at the bottom, stopping at the second one down.

"Oh, Ada, the science fair is next month. We need to start thinking about your project. Do you have any ideas?"

"I'm not doing it," Ada said, pouring more sprinkles out into her hand.

"What?" Amy looked up.

"Mr. Swann said we don't have to. One . . . two . . ."

Amy looked back down, reading the rest of the paragraph with a deepening frown. Ada was correct, the announcement did in fact say "for those children desiring to participate, extra credit will be given."

"So the science fair is optional this year? Just for extra credit?" she asked. Ada nodded confirmation without a pause in her counting. "And you don't want to participate?"

A vigorous shake of her daughter's head. "No - thirty-three - it's boring! - thirty-four . . . "

Confused by this state of events, Amy furrowed her brows. She was baffled why a STEM magnet school would no longer require participation in the annual science fair, but she was even more concerned about why her child prodigy, the daughter of two scientists, didn't want to take part in the event, what she meant when she said it was boring. Sheldon would be crushed. Or worse. It would be ideal to have all the correct information before presenting the news to him, but he received the same email she did every evening and it was only a matter of time -

Before she could inquire into any of those concerns, though, there was the sound of keys in the lock and the door swung open and Sheldon entered, calling, "Good evening, my ladies!"

"Welcome home!" Amy smiled at him, always happy to see him, but also relieved he seemed to be in a good mood, before she turned sharply to Ada. "Ada, your father is speaking to you."

". . . fifty! I was counting!" Ada looked up.

"It doesn't matter. It's rude not to acknowledge someone when they are speaking to you. Besides, you can count to fifty in your sleep," Amy admonished, setting her iPad back on the table.

"And in Spanish, also," Sheldon added. He was taking off his jacket and hanging it in the closet and the rustling movement allowed the edge of a yellow plastic sack to show.

"You went to the store without me?" Ada yelled, jumping down off the counter stool to run over to her father. There was no question about which store she was referencing; Uncle Stuart's comic book shop was one of her favorite locations.

"Sorry, your uncles all wanted to go," Sheldon explained. Then he reached into the bag. "But look what I got you to make up for it."

Ada grabbed the slender soft-cover magazine and threw her lanky body around Sheldon's waist. "Agent Hikari! Thanks, Dad!"

"You're very welcome," Sheldon replied, patting the top of her head even as he looked over at Amy and smiled.

Initially, Amy had been worried that a series of comic books about a young girl pulled from the Japanese interment camps to serve as a double-agent during World War II would be too violent or confusing for her young daughter, even if they were in the juvenile section. But she had been impressed with the educational merit - the very last issue had Hikari breaking a code by having to know all the words to the Declaration of Independence, which she and Mother had helped Ada look up and crack on her own on Christmas Day, the three of them huddled at the table, drinking hot chocolate - and the moral stances the protagonist would take. Just last month, an incident occurred in the playroom when fellow-fan Jacob suggested the children play "interment camp" by imprisoning the younger children and Ada lectured him on the evils of just such a scenario.

"But wait!" Ada pulled back, clutching the new comic. "Does this mean we can't go on Saturday? It's the first Saturday of the month."

"We'll still go," Sheldon replied. "To the comic book store and . . . everything."

In order to hide her smirk, Amy walked over to the now completed cupcakes to cover them for the Friday night dinner at Leonard and Penny's the following evening. She didn't want her face to give away the fact that she knew all about their secrets trips to McDonalds after the comic book store, that she had known for years, ever since her toddler had come home smelling like French fries and her husband had been ineffectively evasive.

"You're the best, Dad!" Ada turned. "Come on, Belle, let's go read!"

"It's eight o'clock, put your pajamas on! I'll be in to read with you in awhile!" Amy called after her, but her statement was not returned by the retreating blurs of copper hair and orange fur. She sighed softly at being forgotten.

"I suppose you think I spoil her," Sheldon said, coming over to her side, looking down at the cupcakes before Amy shut the lid on the container over them. He grunted approval; there just weren't exactly fifty sprinkles on top of each one, but also identical fractal-based patterns. They were lovely: delicate and precise.

"No. It's her birthday tomorrow." Amy shrugged.

"It's actually why we went. That comic I gave her is Volume One, and Howard picked up Volume Two to be her gift from Jacob," Sheldon explained. "Jacob knew it was coming out and wanted to get it for her."

Cleaning off the counter, Amy nodded. "Jacob knows her well."

"But look what else I got her." Sheldon's eyes flashed and he held out a black hardbound volume with a flourish. "Women in Science - 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World."

"Oh!" Amy's eyebrows went up in pleasure. "It's a comic book?"

"A non-fiction juvenile graphic novel. Stuart said someone brought it in for trade. I'm normally opposed to used books, but it appears to be in pristine condition and Stuart reassured me that they appeared to have exemplary personal hygiene standards," he explained.

"It's a great idea, Sheldon." She put away the cleaning cloth and reached for book, turning the pages as her smiled broadened. The illustrations were charming, but she was especially pleased at the amount of text and the diversity of the careers explored on its pages. "I love it!" she exclaimed, looking up with a smile. Then she let it drop. "Although maybe we've already bought her too much for her birthday. Are we spoiling her? Should we save it for some other time?"

"Is there every really a better time to learn about science?" Sheldon asked, taking the book from her and putting it down on the counter. "It's always the right time for another book on the subject."

Amy couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm despite her internal misgivings about the science fair news she'd be forced to convey at some point this evening. "Okay, you win. We'll wrap it up later. Have you eaten? I could reheat dinner for you."

"We ate." Sheldon shook his head and then asked, "How about Book Club? Is this a good time?"

"It's always the right time for another Book Club," Amy replied, still smiling and taking his hand in hers as they walked together toward the sofa. Amy pressed Sheldon's hand gently before letting it go so that they could sit down, each of them in the spots they had honed over the years. Their iKindles were already on the coffee table; Amy had placed them there herself while the cupcakes were baking, in anticipation of just this moment.

"Two books, Amy? What prompted that decision?" Sheldon asked, settling in and turning toward her.

"I couldn't decide. I wanted to read them both so badly and then it occurred to me that the answer was obvious. They should be read together because they are both about female computers dealing with the stars, although in different times and places," she explained. "Besides, I submitted my final findings just before Christmas, and I'm a little bit at loose ends in the lab, trying to turn my mind to something completely new." She shrugged.

Concern marked Sheldon's face as he reached for her hand again. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because it's so silly, I guess. I worked for years on this theory, I poured everything into my research, and now I have let it go and find something new that interests me as much." She took a deep breath to clear her thoughts. Sheldon's countenance was still etched in concern, which wasn't at all what she wanted him to be feeling.

"It's not that I doubt the veracity or value of my work," she continued, "I know it's good, I know it's groundbreaking, I know it's important. I just meant that maybe it was silly to struggle finding a new project. Shouldn't a scientist be eager to jump into the next field of research? There's always something knew to learn, something new to discover. Like in Hidden Figures," Amy reached forward to pick up her iKindle, "Dorothy Vaughn grasps how important it is stay abreast of all the new developments, she knows that if she doesn't embrace and learn how to use the new electronic computers that she will be left in the dust."

"You're not going to be left in the dust," Sheldon said with conviction. "You've discovered proof of a completely new type of micro-neurotransmitter that is going to rock the very foundation of medicine!" Then softer: "You deserve a bit of a break, anyway, you've been working so hard. A new idea will come to you, I'm sure."

Nodding, Amy reached over and squeezed his hand again. "Thank you for understanding." She took a breath. "And, yes, I should be enjoying this reprieve. If my study is as well-received as I think it will be, I'll probably be very busy soon. I should enjoy the chance to read two books for Book Club while I can."

"Before I forget, I do have a question," Sheldon started, pulling his hand away. "Why did we never see the movie based on Hidden Figures? I remember the commercials, but why didn't we go see it? It has some famous people in it, like Kevin Costner."

Amy laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"It's funny because it I looked it up, too! The national distribution was in January 2017. I think we just ran out of time. It was just after Christmas, Passangers and Rogue One had just come out, there were new Sherlocks and Victoria was on Masterpiece. I don't know. But, speaking of the book, who's that other guy in the movie? Paul Stafford is the character's name, I think. But he's not a historical figure in the book, I even searched for his name in the index."

Sheldon shrugged. "I think he must be a compilation of all the sexist and racist people at Langley. Whoever he is, I don't like him."

"It's a shame because he looks really hot in the photos - so tall!"

"Amy!" her husband protested.

"Not as hot as you, dear," Amy soothed, running her hand down his arm. "No matter who that actor is, you'll always be my favorite scientist."

He studied her face for a moment, until Amy wiggled her eyebrows at him and she saw the edge of his lips turn up.

"Okay, Book Club. Hidden Figures and The Glass Universe. Did you like one book better than the other or did they both live up to your hopes?" Sheldon asked.

"Oh, Hidden Figures is a far superior book," Amy said quickly.

Sheldon raised his eyebrows. "That was decisive! Why?"

"The Glass Universe was so poorly researched."

"No, it wasn't," Sheldon protested. "I thought there were a lot of details about the early classifications of stars, the way they were photographed and discovered. Granted, it's more of Raj's interest then mine, but I found it a perfectly respectable explanation for the lay person."

"Okay, yes, I will admit it was a well-researched and concise book of facts. What you just said is true -"

"But you said it was poorly researched. I'm confused." His eyebrows sank.

"I meant it was only well researched about the science but not anything else. What really bothered me about it was that it only focused on the work and not on the social forces at play in these women's life."

"But I thought you would like that. You're a scientist, these women were scientists," Sheldon pointed out.

"Yes, but a woman's profession doesn't exist in a vacuum." Amy put her hand out. "Neither does a man's, or at least not anymore, but for a woman, especially a Victorian woman, there is so much that could have and should have been discussed."

"Expound."

"Well, for starters, none of the characters seemed to have a personality and only a few had physical descriptions." She paused to gather her thoughts and Sheldon spoke, "But there was photographic section."

"Yes, but - well, in Hidden Figures there were no photographs and we still got a physical sense of the woman. We were told if they were petit or not, for example."

"I would have thought you would agree that a person's physical appearance isn't as important as their other, non-physical attributes, primarily their intelligence."

Sighing, Amy said, "When you say it that way, you're correct. I just meant it would have helped make the history feel more alive, it would have helped me visualize them."

Sheldon nodded. "Actually, I understand that. As you have proven to me, beauty and brains can very successfully live in the same body."

Blushing, Amy pushed some of her hair aside. Her rapidly graying hair, no matter how often Sheldon tried to convince her it was silver. From the mouth of a less honest man, it would have just been a line, some sort meaningless compliment to gain favor. But from Sheldon . . . his compliments, while rare, were always sincere.

"Honestly, the lack of physical description is minor complaint - after all, there aren't really that many descriptions in Hidden Figures - and I probably wouldn't have minded or mentioned it if The Glass Universe had addressed the work of these women within the boarder social contexts of the day."

"I did notice that the Nineteenth Amendment was barely mentioned. I had thought that at least something would be said about what the women thought of such an advancement in their lives," Sheldon said.

"Exactly! But it wasn't just that. I mean, that is a huge change in the lives of woman, and, yes, it should be discussed, but I'm even talking about the every day lives these women led. Almost nothing was said about most of the women outside of their education and work at the Harvard observatory. Were they married? Did they have children? Other family members? What did their family members think of their work? Where they supported or demonized for stepping out of social norms at the time?" Amy raised her hand and started picking points off on her fingers. "There is almost no discussion of wage disparity, sexual harassment, theft and degradation of their intelligential property, and the general misogyny at the time. Even if these ladies were lucky enough to live and work in an unlikely Victorian utopia without these problems, shouldn't at least a paragraph have been devoted to explaining that anomaly?"

Sheldon tilted his head. "You're right."

"Oh course I am."

He grimaced. "Now I feel like a bad person for not noticing all that. I'm just like that Paul Stafford guy! I guess I was just too caught up in the science."

Amy reached for his hand. "I think that it didn't help that I read Hidden Figures immediately preceding The Glass Universe. Hidden Figures excelled at all of that. Everything was so well balanced, the science, the struggles the woman experienced both from sexism but also from racism, how they reacted to outside events that impacted them like desegregation. It was a wonderful book, I just loved it." She grinned and finally opened the iKindle she had picked up at the being of their discussion. "Here, I marked this: 'They matched their males colleagues in curiosity, passion and the ability to withstand pressure. Their path to advancement might look less like a straight line and more like some of the pressure distributions and orbits they plotted, but they were determined to take a seat at the table.'" She glanced up. "And then this, about Katherine Goble Jonson: "She always kept up the questioning until she received a satisfactory answer. Her requests were gentle but persistent, like the trickle of water that eventually forces its way through rock. She asked early, she asked often, and she asking penetrating questions about the work.'"

Closing her book, Amy look over at her husband. "I just found it so inspiring. Sometimes, when you're slugging through a tedious work day, a day in which you're just filling in blanks that are necessary but not complex, it's easy to forget the importance of your career, what all the woman who have come before had done for you, in order to allow you to do what you love."

Sheldon grinned at her, and there was a pause of silence before Amy shook her head. "I'm sorry, what did you think of them? I've been monopolizing this conversation."

"I liked you monopolizing." Sheldon patted her knee. "I always like it when you're enthusiastic about your work, and I love Book Clubs when you're so excited about the book." A beat. "I liked them both. Of course, I was approaching it scientifically, so I guess I preferred Hidden Figures since it was more about physics than The Glass Universe, but I still enjoyed them. I've added them both to Ada's list."

Amy smiled at the reminder that Sheldon kept on ongoing list of books to give to and share with Ada when she reached the appropriate intellectual capacity to understand them. He had just recently given her a copy of The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, a book from another Book Club ages ago; Amy had enjoyed sitting on their bed in the evenings, supposedly reading her own book, but she really listened to Sheldon and Ada across the hall reading it aloud and discussing it. Ada was thrilled it was graphic novel about someone with her name, and Sheldon was thrilled she was so excited about science.

"You should add that biography about Hedy Lamarr I read a few years ago; I'll look up the title for you," Amy suggested.

"Excellent idea! Ada will be so excited to have even more female science role models!"

"Oh." She remembered. "So, speaking of Ada and science, I have something to tell you." Amy bit the edge of her lip.

"What?" Sheldon's eyes brow went up and she already heard the worry in his voice.

"It's nothing bad -" she quickly put her hand out "- or anything to get up upset and emotional about."

"So it is bad but I shouldn't upset about it?"

"No. Yes. Well, maybe." Amy took a gulp of air. "Ada is contemplating not participating in the school science fair this year."

"What?" Sheldon gasped and pulled away on the sofa, his hand reaching up to clutch his chest. "What!"

"I told you not to get upset!" Amy hissed. "Ada will hear you."

"She should hear me! What do you mean not participating?"

"Apparently it's now optional. According to Ada - and the daily email from her teacher seems to support her claim - the science fair is no longer mandatory."

"What a load of poppycock!" Sheldon exploded, standing sharply and pacing. "We are sending her to the STEM-magnet school for the academically gifted! There is a waiting list! Why would STEM-related activities be optional?"

"Sheldon." Amy said it sharply, but quietly. "Please sit down so that we can discuss this calmly. I asked you not to get upset."

"I don't see how that's possible given the shock you've delivered to me." But he flopped down next to her. "And Ada! Why doesn't she want to participate? She has defend herself against her grievous loss last year. She was robbed!"

"I don't know; we got interrupted when you got home. She did . . ." Amy grimaced ". . . say it was boring."

"Ouuuuuuhhhhh!" Sheldon let out a painful cry and buried his face in his palms. "Where did we go wrong? We're complete parenting failures! Our daughter thinks science is boring."

"I don't think she thinks science is boring, she just said the science fair was. She's only six -"

"Seven."

"Okay, seven tomorrow. Even seven-year-olds say things they don't mean sometimes. We just need to get to the bottom of this." Amy tentatively put her hand on Sheldon's shoulder. "Besides, she always says that math is her favorite subject and we both know that math is an essential building block for a future career in science."

"And art," Sheldon said without looking up. "She says her favorite subjects are math and art. Always the two of them. As if anyone will ever win the Nobel Prize for those two things, let alone those two things together."

"Sheldon, we're not talking about the Nobel Prize, we're talking about an elementary school science fair," Amy said more firmly. This was going even worse than she feared.

"But it could be the very first stepping stone in what could be a highly laudable -"

"Dad?"

Amy gasped and turned to see Ada standing at the edge of the room, in her pajamas just as she'd been instructed to do, clutching her new comic book to her chest.

"Oh, Ada, we didn't see you there," Amy said, weakly, as she felt her face flush. How long had Ada been standing there? How much had she heard? It had been a mistake to have this conversation here, now; Amy knew she should have waited until she and Sheldon were tucked in bed, two doors firmly shut between them and their sleeping child.

"I'm sorry, I should be coming in to read with you, I know I'm late," she said, instead, as she started to get up.

"I have a question for Dad," Ada replied, and Amy let her weight fall back into the sofa.

"Sure, kiddo, what is it?" Sheldon asked, his voice usually quiet for him.

Ada trotted over and held out her comic book to an open page. "How does surveying work?"

"Surveying?" Sheldon asked, even has he opened his arms and pulled her up onto his lap. "Like surveying property?"

"I guess." Ada shrugged. "Hikari says she has to survey to find the underground cable that the Japanese use to send orders. I don't understand these graphs."

So either they weren't overheard or Ada didn't internalize their conversation. Amy let out a small breath. All that mattered is that Ada didn't seemed bothered by it as she was too busy focusing on her favorite World War II spy.

"That's because this is trigonometry, something you haven't learned yet. But it's not so complicated. Let's pretend this room is Japan - Wait!"

Amy glanced over at Sheldon's sudden, loud self-interruption. "You know what, Ada? Your mother is the ideal person to explain this to you. She's an exceptional scientist, you know, and she's about to be a very famous one. You and your mother don't need me, or any man, to explain and help you with your science. You already have everything you need to succeed -" he gently tapped the top Ada's head - "right here."

Their eyes met over their daughter's head. Amy wouldn't have minded in the least if Sheldon had explained the trigonometry of surveying to Ada; honestly, it had been years since she'd had to think about it and she hoped she wouldn't make an error. But Ada's open, curious face was turned toward her.

"Okay, yes, surveying," Amy said to her, standing, glancing around the room and trying to decide what to do next. "Maybe, though, even though we don't need help from Dad or any man, we might ask him to help? Because it's very important to learn to work with everyone in our scientific endeavors, because everyone has something unique to bring to the discussion, because everyone has ideas, right?"

Ada seemed to consider this and then nodded. "And we like Dad," she said seriously.

Once again, Amy's eyes met Sheldon's beautiful blue ones and she murmured, "Indeed we do." He smiled back.

Then she shook her head. "Okay, this room is Japan and the cable is buried in the opening between the dining room and sunroom, but we don't know that. We'll need -" Ada got up to stand next to her " - something to measure angles - Sheldon, does Siri have a protractor app? - and we'll have to assume known landmarks . . ."

They set to work, Belle watching from her perch on the back of the sofa, Ada asking lots of challenging questions, Sheldon offering helpful suggestions that made Amy look over at him in gratitude, until his white board was filled with sines and cosines and the exact location of the imaginary line between the two rooms was uncovered.

"That was fun!" Ada said, sitting on the wooden floor and touching it as though there really were enemy war communiqué beneath it. The she looked up at Amy and asked, "Can I do surveying for the science fair? Mom, will you help me?"

Hesitating for just a second, not because Amy didn't want to help her daughter with her science fair project, but because she was wondering if she should inquire into Ada's previous opposition to just that activity, she was asked again, more urgently, "Please, Mom? It's so boring when only boys win! We have to beat them!"

Amy smiled and glanced over at Sheldon by the whiteboard, who was positively beaming. "I'd love to."

Ada got up and launched herself at Amy, wrapping her arms tight around her. "Oh, Mom, you're the best!"

Perhaps you're wondering "Why another Book Club?" I honestly always expected that I'd write another meeting someday, that I'd read a book and I'd just know it belonged in my Shamy Book Club. I recently read a flurry of women-in-science books, and, at first, it seemed a crime that I didn't have them earlier for Shamy to read together; but then, I remembered there are all those incidental meetings, and I just knew that they already *had* read them. It just wasn't written down yet.

Does that mean there will be more chapters? Probably, some day. I'm not going to seek them out, but I will write if and when inspiration strikes. Until the next meeting . . .

Thank you, as always, in advance for your reviews.