comp lit / hist of sci student - new member

[jamier]

Hi all,

I've been a lurker for a while -- now that I'm diving into Greek this summer, thought I'd actually make an account!

I studied math and poetry as an undergrad, and I'm continuing that now reading about history of science and poetry of various sorts. I'm especially interested, besides in the ancient world, in "Early Modern" English poetry, before the "two cultures" of science and literature split. As a poet myself, and someone who appreciates both a poet's and a mathematician's way of looking for answers, I'm always curious to learn more about what people in different cultures and times have gotten out of poetry as a distinct source and form of knowledge. I'm interested in periods before science became truly professionalized, when science didn't have a monopoly on "legitimate" forms of proof and explanation. I like me some philosophical epic and other poetry that has ambitions towards encompassing a cosmology of a sort.

Right now - I'm immersed in Greek grammar at the CUNY institute, but still trying to keep up a bit with Lucretius and Pliny. I'm teaching science and humanities both in the fall to advanced 9th graders, and trying my best to bring in some ancient sources on natural philosophy for the history curriculum.

-Jamie Banks