This poem by California poet and scientist Lucille Lang Day weaves a shifting display of images -- the flight patterns of birds made vivid with mathematical terminology. As the poet's observations meander, they build to a question: is a galaxy something like a sparrow?
Form/Formless by Lucille Lang Day
A flock of red-winged blackbirds
swooping and swirling
in cyclonic and anticyclonic patterns
always in motion like Jovian clouds
that appear, then disappear
according to the mathematics of chaos
in yellow, brown and salmon-colored layers
Showing posts with label Lucille Lang Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lucille Lang Day. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Because the mind circles an idea
Besides eight books of poetry and a memoir, California poet Lucille Lang Day has co-authored a textbook, How to Encourage Girls in Math and Science -- a book of activities for teachers and parents to encourage students from kindergarten through eighth grade. Her close connection to mathematics and science is evident in the following poem.
Because by Lucille Lang Day
My heart will beat two billion times
because Krishna plays his flute in the forest
because the planets trace elliptical orbits
because Krishna's skin is blue
because a moon will fly in a straight line forever
unless a planet snares it
the way a woman attracts a man with her gaze
Because by Lucille Lang Day
My heart will beat two billion times
because Krishna plays his flute in the forest
because the planets trace elliptical orbits
because Krishna's skin is blue
because a moon will fly in a straight line forever
unless a planet snares it
the way a woman attracts a man with her gaze
Labels:
completeness,
elliptical,
girls,
line,
Lucille Lang Day,
mathematics,
orbit,
poetry
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Glances at Infinity
Counter-intuitive notions are among my favorite parts of mathematics and, in considerations of infinity, these are numerous. Recalling Zeno's paradox, we capture the infinite finitely in this summation:
1 + 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/23 + . . . + 1/2n + . . . = 1
1 + 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/23 + . . . + 1/2n + . . . = 1
Labels:
Frank Dux,
infinities,
infinity,
Lillian R Lieber,
Lucille Lang Day,
mathematician,
mathematics,
poetry,
series,
sum,
Zeno
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