The magic of "i"

 An exciting math event occurred last week -- the opening of MoMath, 

a Manhattan museum that makes math fun.

 

Still thinking about complex and imaginary numbers (see Sue VanHattum's poem in the December 16 posting), I want to offer a couple of stanzas by Paul Hartal -- selected from "Voyage around the Square Root of Minus 1"  -- stanzas that are part of a lengthy consideration of connections between the arts and the sciences.  I do not always agree with Hartal's viewpoints -- but they are interesting to consider.

from  Voyage around the Square Root of Minus One     by Paul Hartal 

. . .  Mathematical equations are embedded
       with mysterious forces
       and their uncanny power transcends
       the cognitive faculties of the human mind.

       A case in point concerns
       a highly effective but bizarre
       mathematical concept, the imaginary number
       of the square root of minus one,
       marked with the humble symbol, "i".

       This number is a precise mathematical idea,
       and at the same time a poetic celebration
       of absurdity, because it hails from
       a genderless state of an outlandish kingdom.
       "i" is neither positive nor negative.
       It exists in spite of itself,
       percolating through the faulty filters
       of remote stars of another galaxy.             . . .

Hartal is a Canadian writer and artist, born in Hungary.  This poem is found in its entirety at Poem-Hunter.com.