No Taming of the Enthusiast
A scenic route into computer science
by Maria (Marijke) Keet
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ISBN: 978-1-9284-5586-8 (paperback) POD ISBN: 978-1-9284-5589-9 (paperback, print-on-demand) Publication date: November 2021 |
Back cover Where to buy it Media etc. |
Back cover
From skylarking at school to a professorship at the best university in Africa
It’s all here in this collection of loosely related memoir-essays: all the twists in the winding road the author travelled to become a female computer science professor at the University of Cape Town. Born and schooled in the Netherlands, Ms Keet didn’t stay home for long. Her winding road had a distinctly international flavour. She has worked and studied in Ireland and Italy, and briefly in Peru and Cuba, before finding her way to South Africa. The author herself says of her essays: ‘They offer a peek into a kitchen where underway is the making of a woman into an academic scientist when the yeast has been gender-spiked against her chances of rising.’
Very short bio
Maria (Marijke) Keet is an associate professor in computer science at UCT, where she lectures several courses, supervises students, conducts research in the field of knowledge engineering (Artificial Intelligence), and leads her research group and several funded projects. She has written an award-winning first textbook on ontology engineering for computer scientists, and has published some 150 scientific articles in conference proceedings, journals, and books. She holds a PhD in Computer Science, as well as Bachelors (honours) in IT & Computing, and Master’s degrees in Food Science and in Peace & Development Studies.
Where to buy it
It is distributed as paperback in South Africa and internationally. You can buy it in the bookshops and online.
Online:
- In South(ern) Africa:
- Porcupine Press website.
- National online retail websites, such as TakeALot, Exclusive Books, and Books Direct and Loot soon.
- Internationally:
- The book depository that delivers in over 130 countries;
- Amazon: .com, .de, .es, and .co.uk, among many;
- Country-specific retailers, such as Barnes & Noble in the USA, Booktopia in Australia, Bol in the Netherlands and Belgium, and Agapea in Spain, among many;
- At least Exclusive Books in Cape Town has it in stock already since December 2021, and I've seen it coincidentally on the 12th in the domestic terminal of Cape Town airport, in the science section (see photo on the right).
- Others that I'm aware of: EB Rosebank Mall and EB Benmore, Everybody's Books, and Airport Retail JHB.
- Else: The book has been registered with all the bookshops in December 2021. If it is not in a bookshop near you, you can ask any bookshop to order it from any of the following: Porcupine Press (dgrwrite@iafrica.com or 0825721682), or directly from Blue Weaver (info@blueweaver.co.za), or from the warehouse used by Blue Weaver (Booksite Afrika -- all the bookshops know this distributing agent).
- (If you’re nearby, in Cape Town: I have a few copies as well.)
My name...
Long story. It could have filled at least another two or three pages in the book. If you can't pronounce Marijke the way it's supposed to be pronounced within the range of the usual variation of regional accents -- which is the case for most people in the world -- just (continue to) use Maria. To students: Prof Keet is fine as well; just stop writing emails asking me whether you would have to call me Ms or Mrs or Mx (it's neither of those three, and likewise for the vast majority of academics).
Media etc.
Social media: My author page on Facebook:
To contact the author: send an email to me or connect via my author page on Facebook or try LinkedIn for work-related aspects.
Blog posts related to the book:
- Good girls, bold girls -- but not böse; Nov 10, 2022. On the opening line of the memoir.
- English, Englishes -- which one to use for writing?; Sept 27, 2022. It explores the notion of the different varieties of English and how that may affect one's writings.
- Riffling through readability metrics; March 19, 2022. Scratching the surface trying to answer 'What makes some text readable?'
- A handful of memoirs and autobiographies for computer science; Feb 9, 2022. It lists and discusses the few I found during exhaustive searches.
- Some explorations into book publishing logistics; Nov 28, 2021. Considerations on the logistics of how to publish a book.
- My road travelled from microbiology to computer science; 16 May 2021. On why and how I went from one degree to another.