In April, Celebrate BOTH Mathematics and Poetry

           In the United States, April is both National Poetry Month and Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month.  Visits to the links in the preceding sentence will offer lots of information about these monthly celebrations (as will exploring this blog).  AND, below I offer a poetic celebration of mathematics.

     American poet Harry Mathews (1950-2017) was a member of OULIPO and divided his time between New York and Paris; much of his work moved outside the restrictions of traditional poetic forms.

     Here are the opening lines of his poem,  "Safety in Numbers":

from    Safety in Numbers     by Harry Mathews

     The enthusiasm with which I repeatedly declare you my one
     And only confirms the fact that we are indeed two,
     Not one; nor can anything we do ever let us feel three
     (And this is no lisp-like alteration: it's four
     That's a crowd, not a trinity), and our five
     Fingers and toes multiplied leave us at six-

April celebrates both MATH and POETRY

April is National Poetry Month and Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month!  Found at the website We are Teachers, a collection of 38 poems for math students; here is one:

April -- Mathematics & Statistics Awareness Month

      Found at the website of the American Statistical Association this fine page of resources for Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month for students and teachers.  

This photos shows resource topics available at the link given above.

     One of my own recent activities has been to revisit an old book, Poetry and Mathematics by Scott Buchanan (J. B. Lippincott, 1962), originally published in 1929.   Buchanan (1895-1968) was a philosopher who had majored in mathematics as an undergraduate; his career involved both teaching and consulting -- and work at a political think tank.  Here are some of his words: