How do coral reefs, geometry, crochet, and environmentalism come together?  Well ask Margaret and Christine Wertheim, Australian twin sisters who are two of our profile subjects in RenWomen: What Modern Renaissance Women Have to Teach Us About Living Rich, Full Lives. These two sisters are each exceptional in their own fields. Margaret is a trained physicist, mathematician, computer scientist, and has pursued successful careers in science writing, and public speaking. Christine has a PhD in literature, is a poet, critic, performer, museum curator, and teaches creative writing and critical studies at the California Institute of the Arts.

But they have also created an amazing synergy by bringing their various skills together to found the Institute for Figuring,  “The mission of the Institute of Figuring,“ explains Margaret, “is to engage people with science and mathematics by looking at the poetic and aesthetic dimensions of these fields.”  And there is no better example of this kind of synthesis than their Project Coral Reef, a project which, as the IFF website explains: “resides at the intersection of mathematics, marine biology, handicraft and community art practice, and responds to the environmental crisis of global warming and the escalating problem of oceanic plastic trash.”  Whoa!  How you may ask, does it do all that?

Everyone has heard of Leonardo da Vinci.  But how many have heard of Isabella d’Este?  She was an extraordinary multi-talented woman who lived at the same time as da Vinci (he even did a sketch of her) and was called by diplomat Niccolo da Correggio “The First Lady of the World.” Precocious from an early age, Isabella received a classical education, excelling at history, Latin & Greek, and able to discourse on affairs of state.  She was also a talented singer and musician, and an innovator of new dances.  She wrote thousands of letters, commenting on everything from politics to war.  When later married to the Duke of Mantua, she stepped in to rule Mantua during a time he was a war hostage.  During those three years, she was a confident and assertive leader, even, at one point, persuading King Louis XII of France, not to send troops against Mantua. Her husband, upon his return, was so humiliated by her superior political skills that their marriage was never the same after. Isabella was also a patron of the arts, and a fashion leader, whose style was copied by women throughout Italy and at the French court.  All, by the way, as a mother of eight children!

Isabella d’Este is not the only Renaissance-style woman from the past you’ve probably never heard of.  From the beginning of history, there have existed these exceptional women. And one of the things our book, RenWomen, will do is bring some of these women to your attention.

Remember the expression less is more?  It has its basis in the idea that simplicity can often communicate more effectively than complexity.

Well I would like to argue that in the case of Renaissance women (and men), more is more.

If you look at the modern age we live in, sometimes it seems that more is… well, way too much!  Too much information, too much social media, too many choices, too much stimuli all around! 

However, also given the world we live in, the person who can flexibly move from one skill to another, from one discipline to another, who is more equipped, in other words, to handle that constant stream of stimuli is probably at a distinct advantage over the highly focused and specialized individual who can’t.

The other advantage of having multiple skills is how that helps a person survive in an increasingly uncertain and shifting world.  Gone are the days when someone graduates from college, goes into their first professional job, and then stays at that job for their entire working lives.  Statistically, the normal person in the 21st century will hold an average of 10 jobs in a lifetime, and this number appears to be growing.  Considering these jobs will most likely differ from each other, at least in some respects, the person who has more skills will likely be able to adapt to a number of jobs – and thus be much more employable.

And let’s not forget the pleasure factor.  Certainly someone who is intensely focused in one area can experience great satisfaction and pleasure from their work, especially if it is their passion.  (Think of the scientist, happily laboring year after year at the microscope, trying to crack a particular conundrum, looking for that singular discovery that will perhaps change the world.)  But for those happy folks who have many passions, their lives are often rich, stimulating, exciting, and above all, never boring.  As Margaret Wertheim, one of our RenWomen featured in our book says: “I never get bored because there are just so many things in the world that are interesting and… I wish I had about three life times!”  We couldn’t agree more, Margaret!