Lab Girl

by Hope Jahren

I felt the deep and simple happiness that comes from not being alone.

In my own small experience, sexism has been something very simple: the cumulative weight of constantly being told that you can’t possibly be what you are.

Each tree species is subject to its own unique curve. Monterey pine grows twice as fast as Norway spruce, but both trees are harvested for papermaking when they are of similar girth. As a result, Norwegian paper companies are more likely to be solvent and generally own larger territories than their American counterparts.

That no matter what our future held, my first task would always be to kick a hole in the world and make a space for him where he could safely be his eccentric self.