Those who know mathematics but do not immerse in it daily often use its terms in contexts that surprise and delight. I smiled with appreciation when I found, in Issue 25 (December 2011-2012) of 6x6, "The Life of Explorers" by Fani Papageorgiou ; Ugly Duckling Presse has given me permission to include parts II, IV, and VI (of eleven parts) here.
from The Life of Explorers by Fani Papageorgiou
II. On the Method of Trial and Error
If a dog with a long stick in its jaws wants to get through a door,
he will twist and turn his head until he achieves his goal.
Showing posts with label hexagon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hexagon. Show all posts
Friday, December 28, 2012
Explorers
Labels:
6x6,
equation,
Fani Papageorgiou,
goal,
hexagon,
mathematician,
poem,
quadratic,
Ugly Duckling Presse
Friday, July 15, 2011
I have dreamed geometry
Descartes by Jorge Luis Borges
I am the only man on earth, but perhaps there is neither earth nor man.
Perhaps a god is deceiving me.
Perhaps a god has sentenced me to time, that lasting illusion.
I dream the moon and I dream my eyes perceiving the moon.
I have dreamed the morning and evening of the first day.
I am the only man on earth, but perhaps there is neither earth nor man.
Perhaps a god is deceiving me.
Perhaps a god has sentenced me to time, that lasting illusion.
I dream the moon and I dream my eyes perceiving the moon.
I have dreamed the morning and evening of the first day.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Mathematicians divide
One of my fine graduate courses at Hunter College was a "World Poetry" course taught by William Pitt Root. One of our texts was Against Forgetting: Twentieth-Century Poetry of Witness (W W Norton, 1993), edited by Carolyn Forché. In this collection is found "To Myself," a poem that confronts fear, by Abba Kovner (1818-1987), a hero of anti-Nazi resistance. Kovner dares to open the poem with the word "Mathematicians."
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Numbers are more than numbers
Today, a poem in three parts, "Trouble with Numbers" -- from the collection Mathematics and Other Poems by William Wall.
Labels:
Albert Einstein,
hexagon,
infinite,
mathematics,
numbers,
numerals,
poem,
poetry,
William Wall
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Geometry and autism
We do not easily describe what goes on inside our own heads and have still greater difficulty seeing into the minds of others. Pennsylvania poet Barbara Crooker uses images from geometry to help us to see into autism.
Labels:
autism,
Barbara Crooker,
equal,
geometry,
grid,
hexagon,
mathematics,
pentagon,
poetry
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