Today a fine poem that plays with the meanings of "real" and "imaginary" -- and one that I like a lot. Its author, Scottish mathematician-statistician-poet Eveline Pye is, like me, these days enjoying being a grandmother.
Imaginary Numbers by Eveline Pye
A real life ends, but is imagined
by those left behind. An imagined
death becomes reality, eventually.
The square root of minus one
can't exist since a squared number
can’t be negative
but imaginary numbers yield
real answers in the real world.
The difference between reality
and imagination: a false oasis
that blurs, shimmers
and melts before my eyes.
Pye's poem is included in the anthology Bridges Stockholm 2018 from Tesselations Publishing. This article, "Eveline Pye: Poetry in Numbers" is a great place to read more about the poet and her work.
Due to the hard work of mathematician-poet Sarah Glaz, poetry has been an important part of recent BRIDGES-Math-Art Conferences. And, under her editing, a Bridges 2013 Poetry Anthology has been released, featuring poetry from these poets who participated in one or more of the three most recent BRIDGES conferences (Enschede, Netherlands, 2013; Towson, Maryland, 2012; Coimbra, Portugal, 2011).
Since 1998, Summer BRIDGES Conferences have been held -- enthusiastic gatherings where theater and visual art and music and poetry and mathematics engage participants in lively exchange. This year's conference is July 27-31 in Enschede, the Netherlands, and mathematician-poet Sarah Glaz has organized an outstanding group of talented readers to share their poetry on Sunday, July 28. Following the featured readers will be an open reading -- and interested readers are invited to email Glaz using the address found here.
One of the scheduled readers on July 28 in Enschede is Scottish poet and statistician Eveline Pye; shown below is one of the poems she will read -- "Love of Algebra" :
April celebrates poetry and mathematics -- it being both National Poetry Month and Mathematics Awareness Month -- and this year's math-theme is "Mathematics, Statistics, and the Data Deluge." What better way to mark these joint occasions than with a poem of statistics. I first learned of Eveline Pye -- a lively and interesting Glasgow statistician, teacher, and poet -- through "Eveline Pye: Poetry in Numbers" in the September 2011 issue of the statistics magazine, Significance.
Here is one of the poems found therein, aptly titled "Statistics."
Today's title comes from the following poem by statistician and poet Eveline Pye (introduced to this blog on 18 October, 2011).
Numerical Landscape by Eveline Pye
Like a tracker, I smell the earth
on my fingers, listen for the slightest
echo as I stare out at a world
where bell-shaped curves loom
Blogger Peter Cameron sent me a link to an lively article, "Eveline Pye: Poetry in Numbers" in the September 2011 issue of the statistics magazine, Significance. Written by Julian Champkin, the article tells of Eveline Pye -- lively and interesting Glasgow statistician, teacher, and poet -- and includes a selection of her work. One of the poems offered therein is "Solving Problems."