Tell Me the Number before Infinity

Tell Me the Number before Infinity has been praised as the honest, moving, informative, and often funny memoir by Becky Taylor, born in 1972 with cerebral palsy and a gift for math, and by her mother Dena Taylor. They contributed to mainstreaming of disabled children into California public schools. Parents, teachers, sociologists, disabled people and even brain researchers will find the book inspiring. 

Although several books on disabilities already exist, the use of two narrations is unique. The subject is Becky Taylor, from her birth in 1972 to about age forty. The mother, Dena Taylor, begins the book by telling us about her daughter's earliest years, discovering Becky's cerebral palsy, and her exceptional gift for calculus and depth of thought at the age of four. 

Then Becky and Dena, from their own distinct perspectives and styles, in counterpoint, write of Becky's early childhood, school years with the family, and on to college and adulthood. Stan Rushworth wrote about the book: ...We experience the honest, blended lives and feelings of these two women, navigating all that happens together from birth through adulthood, from different viewpoints that are very deeply intermingled.... carries strength, humor, and pain, and it will make a profound difference in people's lives.

The title is Becky's answer to her father's question to her as to whether infinity is an odd or an even number. She was four years old at the time, the same age as she was in the cover photo.

Becky Taylor has a degree in accounting, and is a Computer Science graduate from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She lives in Santa Cruz where she vice-chairs the Commission on Disabilities, and is involved in other civic organizations. Dena Taylor, M.S.W., Rutgers University, is the mother of two grown daughters, and is retired from careers in social work and education. She is the author, editor and co-editor of six books on women's issues.