Californian Brenda Hillman is a poet whose work I like and admire. In "Time Problem" she weaves prime numbers into a deft description of the dilemma of not enough time.
Time Problem by Brenda Hillman
The problem
of time. Of there not being
enough of it.
My girl came to the study
and said Help me;
I told her I had a time problem
which meant:
I would die for you but I don’t have ten minutes.
Numbers hung in the math book
like motel coathangers. The Lean
Cuisine was burning
Showing posts with label curve. Show all posts
Showing posts with label curve. Show all posts
Thursday, March 26, 2015
The problem of time
Labels:
boundary,
Brenda Hillman,
curve,
factoring,
math,
poem,
Poetry Foundation,
prime,
time
Friday, January 30, 2015
Twined Arcs, Defying Euclid
The English language has adopted into current usage many terms from other languages. French terms like coup de grace and haut monde have for many years been found in English dictionaries. Recently, computer terms such as bite and captcha and google have achieved widespread use. In addition, those of us who are fluent in the language of mathematics find that its terms sometimes offer a concise best way to describe a non-mathematical phenomenon.
Mathematician-poet Sarah Glaz weaves mathematical terms into her poem, "Departures in May" -- a poem that uses the language of geometry to vivify the presence of loss, death and other dark forces.
Departures in May by Sarah Glaz
Big things crush, inside the brain,
like plaster of Paris on stone;
a taste of splintered metal;
terra-cotta hardness of heart's desire.
Statues motionless
at railroad depots,
proclaim imitation as life.
Mathematician-poet Sarah Glaz weaves mathematical terms into her poem, "Departures in May" -- a poem that uses the language of geometry to vivify the presence of loss, death and other dark forces.
Departures in May by Sarah Glaz
Big things crush, inside the brain,
like plaster of Paris on stone;
a taste of splintered metal;
terra-cotta hardness of heart's desire.
Statues motionless
at railroad depots,
proclaim imitation as life.
Labels:
arcs,
curve,
Euclid,
infinity,
mathematics,
poem,
Sarah Glaz
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Our curve is a parabola
Found in the essay, "Intellect" (1841) -- these words by 19th century American philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882):
When we are young, we spend much time and pains
in filling our note-books with all definitions
of Religion, Love, Poetry, Politics, Art,
in the hope that, in the course of a few years,
we shall have condensed into our encyclopaedia
the net value of all the theories
at which the world has yet arrived.
But year after year our tables get no
completeness, and at last we discover
that our curve is a parabola,
whose arcs will never meet.
When we are young, we spend much time and pains
in filling our note-books with all definitions
of Religion, Love, Poetry, Politics, Art,
in the hope that, in the course of a few years,
we shall have condensed into our encyclopaedia
the net value of all the theories
at which the world has yet arrived.
But year after year our tables get no
completeness, and at last we discover
that our curve is a parabola,
whose arcs will never meet.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
In Praise of Fractals
Philosopher Emily Grosholz is also a poet -- a poet who often writes of mathematics. Tessellations Publishing has recently (2014) published her collection Proportions of the Heart: Poems that Play with Mathematics (with illustrations by Robert Fathauer) and she has given me permission to present one of the fine poems from that collection.
In Praise of Fractals by Emily Grosholz
Variations on the Introduction to
The Fractal Geometry of Nature by Benoit Mandelbrot
(New York: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1983)
Euclid’s geometry cannot describe,
nor Apollonius’, the shape of mountains,
puddles, clouds, peninsulas or trees.
Clouds are never spheres,
In Praise of Fractals by Emily Grosholz
Variations on the Introduction to
The Fractal Geometry of Nature by Benoit Mandelbrot
(New York: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1983)
Euclid’s geometry cannot describe,
nor Apollonius’, the shape of mountains,
puddles, clouds, peninsulas or trees.
Clouds are never spheres,
Labels:
curve,
Emily Grosholz,
Euclid,
fractal,
geometry,
Mandelbrot,
mathematical,
poetry,
Robert Fathauer,
shape
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The Icosasphere
Marianne Moore (1887-1972) has fun with the sounds of words -- including a number of math terms -- in her playful poem that celebrates inventive constructions from bird nests to a steel sphere-like icosahedron to the Pyramids of Egypt.
The Icosasphere by Marianne Moore
“In Buckinghamshire hedgerows
the birds nesting in the merged green density,
weave little bits of string and moths and feathers and
thistledown,
in parabolic concentric curves" and,
working for concavity, leave spherical feats of rare efficiency;
whereas through lack of integration,
The Icosasphere by Marianne Moore
“In Buckinghamshire hedgerows
the birds nesting in the merged green density,
weave little bits of string and moths and feathers and
thistledown,
in parabolic concentric curves" and,
working for concavity, leave spherical feats of rare efficiency;
whereas through lack of integration,
Labels:
ball,
concave,
concentric,
curve,
icosahedron,
icosasphere,
Marianne Moore,
parabolic,
poem,
spherical
Friday, June 17, 2011
Circling -- with Rilke
Ranier Maria Rilke (1875-1926) was born in Prague but emigrated to Germany and is one of the great modern lyric poets. The following Rilke poems draw on images of circles.
Labels:
applied mathematics,
center,
circle,
curve,
poem,
poetry,
Rainer Maria Rilke,
ring,
Stephen Mitchell
Thursday, April 7, 2011
A poetic perspective on algebra
Last Monday (April 4), the Washington Post had an article concerning the value of Algebra II as a predictor of college and work success. Since then I have heard numerous successful people point out that they did not have the cited course. Also on April 4, NPR had a feature on the advantages of being bilingual. My own mind joined these two stories -- for me, algebra is a second language and has enabled my learning of lots of other things.
Colette Inez 's poem "Forest Children" uses the language of poetry to speak of algebra (and of her concern for shrinking woodlands).
Colette Inez 's poem "Forest Children" uses the language of poetry to speak of algebra (and of her concern for shrinking woodlands).
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
How much math does a math-poem need?
Poems offered in this blog vary in the levels of mathematics they contain. One mathematical reader commented privately that in some of the poems the use of mathematical terms is "purely decorative." Indeed, some people have particular expectations for poetry that relates to mathematics -- they want the content to use mathematical notation or to present a mathematical truth. Such as, perhaps, this abbreviated statement of the four-color theorem (formulated as a 4x4 square):
Labels:
curve,
diagonal,
four-color theorem,
John Vieira,
map,
mathematical,
mathematics,
poetry,
square,
Strange Attractors,
tallies,
vector
Sunday, August 8, 2010
A poem of calculus (of ants on a worm)
Philip Wexler plays with the terminology of calculus in this poem:
The Calculus of Ants on a Worm
Swarming tiny
bodies nibble
away, no limits,
The Calculus of Ants on a Worm
Swarming tiny
bodies nibble
away, no limits,
Labels:
anthology,
Cabin Fever,
calculus,
Carl Phillips,
curve,
degrees,
derivative,
divide,
infinite,
limits,
Mathematics of Breathing,
null,
Philip Wexler,
reduce,
triangle,
WordWorks
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