What’s next: pens for left-handed people?

Next: pens for left-handed people!

There are no bicycles specifically designed for left or right-handed users though there are bicycles designed for women or others designed for men. Like bicycles, there are no pens designed for left or right-handed people (at least as far as I know).

Unlike bicycles, Bic thought it a good idea to release into the market “Bic for Her”. So far, it has proven a bit of a PR disaster.

The most playful, but equally trenchant comment come from reviewers of the pen on Amazon.co.uk.

Butch McCassidy writes:

“Oh. My. God. I’ve been doing it all wrong. There was me thinking I didn’t need to worry about whether my writing implement sufficiently reflected my gender. Thank you so much Bic for showing me the error of my ways. Perhaps Bic will also bring out a new range of pink (or purple) feminine spanners, screwdrivers, electric drills and angle grinders so that I can carry out my job as a bicycle mechanic without further embarrassing myself? Luckily my male colleagues have managed to keep their disapproval of my use of their masculine tools to themselves. I’m so ashamed. And re-educated as to my place in society. Thanks again Bic!”

Jonny writes:

“This pen is great. I bought it for all my female friends and relatives. It enabled them, finally, to write things (although they may not yet know to do so on paper; but you can only expect so much, really). I thought they were just a bit slow…

…Anyway, it’s good that BIC are finally doing something to aid the plight of women. Hopefully a range of ‘for her’ paperclips is on the horizon – my wife has an awful time keeping her recipes together.”

Along with 16,200 news articles on the matter, there is, naturally enough these days, a webpage dedicated to the pen.

So what could Bic do at this (ball)point?

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Sciencelens

Today is Poet’s Day, a day to celebrate the sensitive souls who, through the ages, shared their deepest thoughts through verse and rhyme. I have to admit to being more of a ‘prose person’ than a ‘poetry person’, but that by no means implies that I don’t have the greatest respect and admiration for a good poem – it’s simply not my very favourite literary form.

Of course there’s a close relation between poetry and mathematics – a subject that is close to my heart. It was Einstein who said: “Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.”

Mathematics in general seem to play an important role in poetry. Not only is there mathematics in the structure and rhythm of poetry, but many poems have also been written that contain overt mathematical themes. In a 2010 article entitled “Poetry Inspired by Mathematics“…

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