Six Greatest Nerd Couples of All Time
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There's something special about the love between two geeks. There's a reason love stories about popular cheerleaders and football quarterbacks cruising easily through the courtship ritual aren't a booming business; Nerd love is hard won and messy. There's a lot of furtive glances, missed opportunities, and sweaty palms. Here we celebrate some our favorite geeky couples.
6. Marie & Pierre Curie
Marie Curie (born Marie Skłodowska) was a Polish physicist who was a pioneer in the field of radioactivity and landed not one, but two, Nobel Prizes. (We know, we kind of just want to go back to bed, too.) A true brainiac, she studied at the Sorbonne, founded her own research center, and discovered and named new chemical elements. Her husband, Pierre Curie, taught at the School of Physics in the Sorbonne and the two of them met - we kid you not - because of their mutual interest in magnetism. The pair got married and spent their wedded bliss in the lab and on long bicycle trips. They won a Nobel Prize together and had two kids (one of which also won a Nobel). When Pierre was tragically struck and killed by a horse-drawn vehicle, Marie inherited his position at the Sorbonne, becoming the school's first female instructor and continuing the couple's life work.
5. Lisa Simpson & Milhouse Van Houten
Lisa Simpson is the ultimate nerd girl. A saxophone playing vegetarian who loves to read, she's overshadowed by her cooler older brother, baffled by her parents' proclivities, and teased by her fellow students. And much to her chagrin, her only persistent suitor is her brother's dorky friend, the four-eyed Milhouse Van Houten. Like many nerd girls are wont to do, Lisa pursues bad boy Nelson Muntz, even enlisting heartsick Milhouse in her aid, who eventually gets pummeled by the bully. While they aren't a couple yet, we hope that eventually Lisa will realize that there's something to be said for someone who's willing to take a beating for you.
4. Charles Babbage & Ada Lovelace
Ada Lovelace is credited as being the world's first computer programmer, a full 149 years before Barbie told the world, "Math class is tough!" Lovelace was the offspring of poet Lord Byron (they didn't have a relationship) and took an early interest in math, particularly the workings of the fancifully named "Analytical Engine." The Engine was the creation of a man named Charles Babbage, who is considered the father of the modern computer. Babbage and Lovelace were never a romantic couple (they both married and had children with other people) but they were an intellectual couple who produced important works together, with Babbage dubbing Lovelace "The Enchantress of Numbers." Thus we award them the title of Best Unofficial Geek Couple.
3. Barack & Michelle Obama
One of the pitfalls of being nerd is being ignored by your peers, so it's difficult to think of this couple, who have the eyes of the world on them, as nerds. But let's face it, that's what they are: overachieving nerds. Michelle skipped second grade, attended gifted classes in elementary school and then sailed into Chicago's first magnet school where she was on honor roll for four years and served as student council treasurer. (Does it get nerdier than student council treasurer?) She then went to Princeton and Harvard Law School, which is where she met her future husband. Barack earned his B.A. from Columbia University, and while at Harvard Law School was named editor of the Harvard Law Review. The appointment earned him a book deal, and he penned Dreams of My Father--all before he turned 35.
2. Issac and Janet Asimov
Isaac Asimov penned seminal science fiction texts including I, Robot and the Foundation series. His nerd chops are mighty: A bespectacled claustrophobic who hated to fly, with a Ph. D. in biochemistry, he scored a screen credit on Star Trek: The Motion Picture for giving advice to good pal Gene Roddenberry. After a failed first marriage, Asimov married Janet Opal Jeppson. Janet got her BA at Stanford before getting her M.D. at NYU Medical School, eventually becoming a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. She was also a science fiction writer, and Isaac and Janet endeavored to take on the nerdiest couples collaboration ever: co-authoring a series of books for young adults about a robot named Norby.
1. Delora & Rhovan
We can't really think of anything geekier than meeting via a MMORPG (a massively multiplayer online role-playing game). Since Magic the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons, nerds have loved escaping the monotony of everyday with a fantasy persona, and other people have enjoyed laughing at them. But Delora and Rhovan get the last laugh, because they met while playing wildly popular World of Warcraft, fell in love, got married in 2006 and had a baby.
Honorable Mention:
Josh and Ting Li
While they're still a relatively new contender; the happy fanboy and girl were married in an Apple store this Valentine's Day, by, no joke, A PRIEST DRESSED AS STEVE JOBS.
You win Josh and Ting, we ain't got nothing on iLove.
Know any that we missed? Suggestions welcome in the comments.
Follow us on Twitter at @origamiunicorn and @sfweekly.
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6. Marie & Pierre Curie
Marie Curie (born Marie Skłodowska) was a Polish physicist who was a pioneer in the field of radioactivity and landed not one, but two, Nobel Prizes. (We know, we kind of just want to go back to bed, too.) A true brainiac, she studied at the Sorbonne, founded her own research center, and discovered and named new chemical elements. Her husband, Pierre Curie, taught at the School of Physics in the Sorbonne and the two of them met - we kid you not - because of their mutual interest in magnetism. The pair got married and spent their wedded bliss in the lab and on long bicycle trips. They won a Nobel Prize together and had two kids (one of which also won a Nobel). When Pierre was tragically struck and killed by a horse-drawn vehicle, Marie inherited his position at the Sorbonne, becoming the school's first female instructor and continuing the couple's life work.
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5. Lisa Simpson & Milhouse Van Houten
Lisa Simpson is the ultimate nerd girl. A saxophone playing vegetarian who loves to read, she's overshadowed by her cooler older brother, baffled by her parents' proclivities, and teased by her fellow students. And much to her chagrin, her only persistent suitor is her brother's dorky friend, the four-eyed Milhouse Van Houten. Like many nerd girls are wont to do, Lisa pursues bad boy Nelson Muntz, even enlisting heartsick Milhouse in her aid, who eventually gets pummeled by the bully. While they aren't a couple yet, we hope that eventually Lisa will realize that there's something to be said for someone who's willing to take a beating for you.
 |
4. Charles Babbage & Ada Lovelace
Ada Lovelace is credited as being the world's first computer programmer, a full 149 years before Barbie told the world, "Math class is tough!" Lovelace was the offspring of poet Lord Byron (they didn't have a relationship) and took an early interest in math, particularly the workings of the fancifully named "Analytical Engine." The Engine was the creation of a man named Charles Babbage, who is considered the father of the modern computer. Babbage and Lovelace were never a romantic couple (they both married and had children with other people) but they were an intellectual couple who produced important works together, with Babbage dubbing Lovelace "The Enchantress of Numbers." Thus we award them the title of Best Unofficial Geek Couple.
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3. Barack & Michelle Obama
One of the pitfalls of being nerd is being ignored by your peers, so it's difficult to think of this couple, who have the eyes of the world on them, as nerds. But let's face it, that's what they are: overachieving nerds. Michelle skipped second grade, attended gifted classes in elementary school and then sailed into Chicago's first magnet school where she was on honor roll for four years and served as student council treasurer. (Does it get nerdier than student council treasurer?) She then went to Princeton and Harvard Law School, which is where she met her future husband. Barack earned his B.A. from Columbia University, and while at Harvard Law School was named editor of the Harvard Law Review. The appointment earned him a book deal, and he penned Dreams of My Father--all before he turned 35.
 |
2. Issac and Janet Asimov
Isaac Asimov penned seminal science fiction texts including I, Robot and the Foundation series. His nerd chops are mighty: A bespectacled claustrophobic who hated to fly, with a Ph. D. in biochemistry, he scored a screen credit on Star Trek: The Motion Picture for giving advice to good pal Gene Roddenberry. After a failed first marriage, Asimov married Janet Opal Jeppson. Janet got her BA at Stanford before getting her M.D. at NYU Medical School, eventually becoming a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. She was also a science fiction writer, and Isaac and Janet endeavored to take on the nerdiest couples collaboration ever: co-authoring a series of books for young adults about a robot named Norby.
 |
1. Delora & Rhovan
We can't really think of anything geekier than meeting via a MMORPG (a massively multiplayer online role-playing game). Since Magic the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons, nerds have loved escaping the monotony of everyday with a fantasy persona, and other people have enjoyed laughing at them. But Delora and Rhovan get the last laugh, because they met while playing wildly popular World of Warcraft, fell in love, got married in 2006 and had a baby.
Honorable Mention:
Josh and Ting Li
While they're still a relatively new contender; the happy fanboy and girl were married in an Apple store this Valentine's Day, by, no joke, A PRIEST DRESSED AS STEVE JOBS.
You win Josh and Ting, we ain't got nothing on iLove.
Know any that we missed? Suggestions welcome in the comments.
Follow us on Twitter at @origamiunicorn and @sfweekly.
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