Recently I have found online translations of several poems by Norwegian poet Rolf Jacobsen (1907-1994). His poem "Sand" reminded me of a recent conversation with a friend about the word "infinite." This friend said that he would use "all the grains of sand on the earth" as an example of an infinite collection. Though I disagreed, I also have found it is not at all uncommon for people to use "infinite" -- as my friend did -- as if it means "larger than I could possibly count." In Jacobsen's poem, the number of grains of sand is finite but also unbounded. Do you agree?
Showing posts with label total. Show all posts
Showing posts with label total. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Counting grains of sand
Labels:
finite,
infinite,
mathematics,
poetry,
Rolf Jacobsen,
total,
unbounded
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