Recently I was contacted by Thomas Barr, Director of Programs at the American Mathematical Society who told me of poetry written by a student from Flagstaff, AZ; Tristian Bangert of Coconino Community College has written about the discovery by John Horton Conway (1937-2020) of the surreal numbers -- and I offer part of his poem below; contact information for the poet is offered at the end of this post:
from Conway by Tristian Bangert
There once was a man
Who knew naught but numbers
Joined by their presence
The numbers, wondering
"Where has your kind been?
There once was a number,
unlike other numbers
It stood in waiting
Waiting for recognition
Not unlike the last ungifted Christmas puppy
Nor unlike the last chosen for the team
This number wondered, longer than any of the others,
"When will I be found?
Does not anyone want me?"
And so the number waited . . .
Bangert's poem ends with:
R.I.P. Jon Conway,
Finder of the surreals
Friend of numbers.
For the rest of the poem, contact Tristian Bangert at tristianbangert at gmail dot com.
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