Poet Arthur Guiterman (1871-1943) was known for his humorous verse. Here is "A Pure Mathematician" -- a poem that stereotypes mathematicians in familiar, unflattering ways (from The Laughing Muse (Harper Brothers, 1915)). In contrast to Guiterman's verse that pokes fun at mathematicians, I invite you to visit this posting from 28 January 2011 to read Sherman Stein's "Mathematician" -- a poem that not only is more fair to the profession but also features a female mathematician.
A Pure Mathematician by Arthur Guiterman
Let Poets chant of Clouds and Things
In lonely attics!
A Nobler Lot is his, who clings
To Mathematics.
Sublime he sits, no Worldly Strife
His Bosom vexes,
Reducing all the Doubts of Life
To Y's and X's.
Showing posts with label portrait. Show all posts
Showing posts with label portrait. Show all posts
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Portraits of a mathematician
Ideas for this posting began with my post on 30 October 2011 in which I selected 7 favorite lines of poetry as a sort of self-portrait. That posting led to an exchange with blogger Peter Cameron -- which prompted me to write these abecedarian portraits of a mathematician.
I know a mathematician . . . by JoAnne Growney
always busy
counting, doubting
every figured guess,
haply idling,
juggling, knowing
logic, measure, n-dimensions,
originating
playful quests,
resolutely seeking theorems,
unknowns vanish :
wrong xs, ys -- zapped.
I know a mathematician . . . by JoAnne Growney
always busy
counting, doubting
every figured guess,
haply idling,
juggling, knowing
logic, measure, n-dimensions,
originating
playful quests,
resolutely seeking theorems,
unknowns vanish :
wrong xs, ys -- zapped.
Labels:
abecedarian poem,
geometry,
guess,
JoAnne Growney,
mathematician,
poem,
poetry,
portrait,
theorem
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Self-portrait with numbers
Visual poet Geof Huth lives and blogs in Schenectady, NY. In 2010 he turned 50 and early in 2011 he sent me (via snail mail, on smooth white paper) a letter. The letter is a poem; the poem is a celebration of life, a sort of self-portrait, using numbers. Geof gave me permission to post it here.
Labels:
counting,
digit,
Geof Huth,
JoAnne Growney,
meter,
natural number,
numbers,
poem,
poetry,
portrait
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