Here is a selection from "The Mathematician," a long poem -- found in its entirety in The Rumpus -- by Oregon poet Carl Adamshick and recommended to me by poet R Joyce Heon -- for a sample of her ekphrastic poems, follow this link and go to pages 37-42. And this link leads to more poems (in this blog) starring mathematicians --- and a few of them are women!!
from The Mathematician by Carl Adamshick
What I do is calculate.
I’ve always seen the world as numbers,
buildings and trees factors,
math as a language better suited for explaining
how things work
than the formula of grammar.
Showing posts with label language. Show all posts
Showing posts with label language. Show all posts
Monday, April 25, 2016
Friday, September 18, 2015
Words of Ada Lovelace
These poetic words of Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) -- concerning translation of mathematical principles into practical forms -- I found here:
Those who view mathematical science,
not merely as a vast body
of abstract and immutable truths,
whose intrinsic beauty, symmetry and logical completeness,
when regarded in their connexion together as a whole,
entitle them to a prominent place
in the interest of all profound and logical minds,
Those who view mathematical science,
not merely as a vast body
of abstract and immutable truths,
whose intrinsic beauty, symmetry and logical completeness,
when regarded in their connexion together as a whole,
entitle them to a prominent place
in the interest of all profound and logical minds,
Labels:
Ada Lovelace,
beauty,
Charles Babbage,
language,
logical,
Lord Byron,
mathematical,
practical,
science,
symmetry,
translation,
truth
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Galileo in Florence
Poetry found in the words of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642):
"Philosophy is written in this grand book,
the universe, which stands continually
open to our gaze.
But the book cannot be understood unless one first
learns to comprehend the language and read the letters
in which it is composed.
It is written in the language of mathematics,
"Philosophy is written in this grand book,
the universe, which stands continually
open to our gaze.
But the book cannot be understood unless one first
learns to comprehend the language and read the letters
in which it is composed.
It is written in the language of mathematics,
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Conversational mathematics
In recent weeks I have been experimenting with poems that use mathematical terminology, wondering whether -- since there are readers who are undaunted by unknown literary references (to Dante's Divine Comedy or Eliot's Prufrock, for example) -- some readers will relish a poem with unexplained mathematical connections. In this vein I have offered "Love" (posted on on November 5) and now give the following poem, "Small Powers of Eleven are Palindromes":
Labels:
Catalan,
cube,
irrational,
JoAnne Growney,
language,
mathematics,
number,
palindrome,
perfect,
poem,
power,
twin primes
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Mathematics and Mexican Food
Recently Rattle posted a wonderful mathy poem by Diana Rosen entitled "Mathematics and Molé." Here's the first stanza:
Mathematics and Molé by Diana Rosen
Numbers flicker in front of my eyes as
I give him my full attention.
Differential geometry explains the black hole, he says.
It’s very obvious.
I lean forward to catch his words,
my chin in cupped hand,
eyes intent on his, yet
thinking of Mexican food.
Mathematics is the language of science, he says.
. . .
Rozen's complete poem is here.
Mathematics and Molé by Diana Rosen
Numbers flicker in front of my eyes as
I give him my full attention.
Differential geometry explains the black hole, he says.
It’s very obvious.
I lean forward to catch his words,
my chin in cupped hand,
eyes intent on his, yet
thinking of Mexican food.
Mathematics is the language of science, he says.
. . .
Rozen's complete poem is here.
Labels:
black hole,
Diana Rosen,
differential geometry,
language,
mathematics,
numbers,
poem,
Rattle
Friday, February 22, 2013
Counting for Freedom -- the Amistad trials
Josiah Willard Gibbs (Jr, 1839 – 1903) was an American scientist who made important theoretical contributions to physics, chemistry, and mathematics. His father, Josiah Willard Gibbs, Sr (1790 - 1861) was an American linguist and theologian, who served as professor of sacred literature at Yale University. Although the son is well-known in scientific circles, it is the father who interests us here -- he is the subject of a poem by New York poet Stephanie Strickland.
The senior Gibbs was an active abolitionist and he played an important role in the Amistad trials of 1839–40. By visiting the African passengers in jail, he was able to learn to count to ten in their language, and he then searched until he located a sailor, James Covey, who recognized the words --the language was Mende -- and was able to serve as an interpreter for the Africans during their subsequent trial for mutiny.
The senior Gibbs was an active abolitionist and he played an important role in the Amistad trials of 1839–40. By visiting the African passengers in jail, he was able to learn to count to ten in their language, and he then searched until he located a sailor, James Covey, who recognized the words --the language was Mende -- and was able to serve as an interpreter for the Africans during their subsequent trial for mutiny.
Labels:
Amistad,
bars,
Black History Month,
counting,
freedom,
jail,
Josiah Willard Gibbs,
language,
Mende,
numbers,
poem,
Stephanie Strickland
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Is Algebra Necessary?
Anticipating my interest, several friends sent me links to a late-July opinion piece in The New York Times entitled "Is Algebra Necessary?" (written by an emeritus political science professor, Andrew Hacker). I more-or-less agree with Hacker that algebra is not necessary in most daily lives or places of employment. In fact, years ago I developed a non-algebra text, Mathematics in Daily Life, for a course designed to satisfy a math-literacy requirement at Bloomsburg University. On the other hand, my own fluency in the language of algebra opened doors to calculus and to physics and so many other rooms of knowledge that I have loved.
Expressing algebraic issues in verse, we have this thoughtful poem by Jeannine Hall Gailey, Poet Laureate of Redmond, Washington (home of Microsoft).
Expressing algebraic issues in verse, we have this thoughtful poem by Jeannine Hall Gailey, Poet Laureate of Redmond, Washington (home of Microsoft).
Friday, June 8, 2012
Computer code -- is poetry?
Dubliner Eavan Boland is a master poet (and one of my favorites); Ireland shares her with the creative writing program at Stanford University. In Against Love Poetry (Norton, 2001), we find Boland's tribute to the also-amazing master of language, Grace Murray Hopper (1906-1988).
Code by Eavan Boland
Code by Eavan Boland
An Ode to Grace Murray Hopper 1906-88
maker of a computer compiler and verifier of COBOL
Poet to poet. I imagine you
at the edge of language, at the start of summer
in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, writing code.
You have no sense of time. No sense of minutes even.
They cannot reach inside your world,
your gray work station
with when yet now never and once.
You have missed the other seven.
This is the eight day of Creation.
Labels:
Bloomsburg University,
COBOL,
code,
compiler,
computer,
Eavan Boland,
Grace Murray Hopper,
language,
mathematician,
mathematics,
poem,
zero
Monday, July 11, 2011
Seeking a universal language
Is mathematics a universal language? Not only is this universality often postulated but also it was said -- some decades back -- that devices were broadcasting into space the intial decimal digits of pi, expecting that other intelligent beings would surely recognize the sequence of digits. Robert Gethner examines this arrogance in a poem.
Labels:
digits,
equations,
language,
mathematician,
mathematics,
Mathematics Magazine,
pi,
poem,
poetry,
primes,
Robert Gethner,
universal
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).
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