One of the article's enchanting items is a song for children -- "Circle Song" -- which Lesser has written to the familiar tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"; this lyric offers a way to remember critical formulas for a circle.
Circle Song by Lawrence Mark Lesser
Take your finger 'round the jar:
Circumf'rence equals 2πr!
For area, you multiply
r squared by that number π.
Twinkle, twinkle, you're a star:
Knowing math will take you far!
Another of Lesser's teaching-lyrics (excerpted in the afore-mentioned JMA article and available in its entirety here) is "Hotel Infinity" -- written to the tune of "Hotel California," a 1970's hit song by the Eagles. These lines introduce the counter-intuitive aspects of infinity by retelling and setting to music a paradoxical tale by mathematician David Hilbert. (And, if we can sing it perhaps we can understand it! )
from Hotel Infinity by Lawrence Mark Lesser
On a dark desert highway -- not much scenery
Except this long hotel stretchin’ far as I could see.
Neon sign in front read “No Vacancy",
But it was late and I was tired, so I went inside to plea.
The clerk said, “No problem. Here’s what can be done--
We’ll move those in a room to the next higher one.
That will free up the first room and that’s where you can stay.”
I tried understanding that as I heard him say:
CHORUS: “Welcome to the hotel called Infinity --
Where every room is full (every room is full)
Yet there’s room for more.
Yeah, plenty of room at the hotel called Infinity -
Move ‘em down the floor (move em’ down the floor)
To make room for more.”
An abecedarian poem (on statistics) coauthored by Lesser has been previously posted in this blog and is available here. This link leads to lyrics (including his) that won the “Pi Day of the Century” song contest announced 3/14/15 by the National Museum of Mathematics. And his national statistics song contest winning entries (including this year’s) are posted here.
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