The double dactyl is, like the limerick, a fixed verse form -- and one that is often humorous. From Wikipedia's, we have this initial requirement: "There must be two stanzas, each comprising three lines of dactylic dimeter ( ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ) followed by a line consisting of just a choriamb ( ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ) . . ." As the samples below illustrate, a double dactyl involves both nonsense and multi-syllabic words -- a non-trivial challenge; visit Wikipedia to learn more.
The verses below are by Arthur Seiken, Emeritus Professor at Union College and I found them (with the help of editor Marjorie Senechal) in a 1995 issue of The Mathematical Intelligencer (Vol 17, No 2, p 11).
If you want to see more of this poetic form, here are links to follow: "Mathematical Double Dactyls" by Tristan Miller from the July 2015 issue of the Journal of Humanistic Mathematics and the Higgeldy Piggeldy verse collection of Robin Pemantle. And, again, here is a Wikipedia link that supplies formal details of these verses.
Showing posts with label Mathematical Intelligencer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mathematical Intelligencer. Show all posts
Friday, October 13, 2017
Monday, January 25, 2016
Tartaglia solving the cubic -- in verse
Mathematical historians now credit both Cardano and Tartaglia with the formula to solve cubic equations, referring to it as the
"Cardano-Tartaglia Formula." Tartaglia is known for reporting solutions of three different forms of the cubic equation in a poem (1534). Below we offer Boston poet Kellie Gutman's English translation of Tartaglia's verse, followed by the original Italian.
When X Cubed by Niccolò Tartaglia (1500–1557) (Englished by Kellie Gutman)
When x cubed’s summed with m times x and then
Set equal to some number, a relation
Is found where r less s will equal n.
Now multiply these terms. This combination
rs will equal m thirds to the third;
This gives us a quadratic situation,
When X Cubed by Niccolò Tartaglia (1500–1557) (Englished by Kellie Gutman)
When x cubed’s summed with m times x and then
Set equal to some number, a relation
Is found where r less s will equal n.
Now multiply these terms. This combination
rs will equal m thirds to the third;
This gives us a quadratic situation,
Labels:
Cardano,
cubic,
equation,
Italian,
Kellie Gutman,
Mathematical Intelligencer,
solve,
Tartaglia
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Poetry in Math Journals
The Mathematical Intelligencer (publisher of the poem by Gizem Karaali given below) and the Journal of Humanistic Mathematics (an online, open-access journal edited by Mark Huber and Gizem Karaali) are periodicals that include math-related poetry in each issue. For example, in the most recent issue of JHM, we have these titles:
Articles:
Joining the mathematician's delirium to the poet's logic'': Mathematical Literature and Literary Mathematics by Rita Capezzi and Christine Kinsey
How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways for Syllabic Variation in Certain Poetic Forms by Mike Pinter
Poems:
And here, from Gizem Karaali, is a poetic view of the process of mathematical discovery: the blank white page, the muddy flow of thoughts, the clarity that eventually (sometimes) blooms:
Articles:
Joining the mathematician's delirium to the poet's logic'': Mathematical Literature and Literary Mathematics by Rita Capezzi and Christine Kinsey
How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways for Syllabic Variation in Certain Poetic Forms by Mike Pinter
Poems:
Computational Compulsions by Martin Cohen
Jeffery's Equation by Sandra J. Stein
The Math of Achilles by Geoffrey A. Landis
And here, from Gizem Karaali, is a poetic view of the process of mathematical discovery: the blank white page, the muddy flow of thoughts, the clarity that eventually (sometimes) blooms:
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Right Triangle
The shape of a poem influences our reading of it -- short lines cause reading with lots of pauses whereas we read long lines quickly to get the entire line completed in a single breath. Moreover, some poetry is intended to be primarily visual -- to be taken in as a seen-image rather than read. UBU Web offers several example of early visual poetry and one may also explore the UBU Web site for modern examples. Visual poetry may also be termed "concrete" poetry; consider, for example, "Concrete Block" by Michael J. Garofalo:
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Bridges of Konigsberg
From the August 1997 issue of The Mathematical Intelligencer, we have this poem by Judith Saunders about a long-standing puzzle solved solved by the mathematical giant, Leonhard Euler (1707-1783).
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Poems starring mathematicians -- 7
Activist mathematician Chandler Davis -- an editor of The Mathematical Intelligencer, career mathematician at the University of Toronto, and author of It Walks in Beauty (Aqueduct Press, 2010) -- has written of his friendship with Norberto Salinas (1940-2005), a mathematician originally from Argentina who was a long-time faculty member at the University of Kansas:
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