World Book Day, celebrate Bright lady . . .

      Tomorrow, March 3, is WORLD BOOK DAY -- and I use the occasion to pull off the shelf one of my favorites, The Mathematical Magpie; stories, essays, rhymes, anecdotes, epigrams -- diversions (rational or irrational) from the infinite domain of MATHEMATICS, published in 1962 (Simon & Schuster, NY) by Clifton Fadiman (1904-1999).

    Here are two limericks offered by Fadiman -- and written by Manitoba professor A. H. Reginald Butler (1874-1944):        

     There was a young lady named Bright,
     Who traveled much faster than light.
          She started one day
          In the relative way
     And returned on the previous night.

     To her friends said the Bright one in chatter,
     "I have learned something new about matter:
               As my speed was so great
               Much increased was my weight,
     Yet I failed to become any fatter."

This link leads to previous postings in this blog that feature Fadiman.

Poem and parody -- isomorphic?

In mathematics, algebraic systems that have different objects but the same structure are described as isomorphic.  The parody in poetry illustrates the same idea -- a new poem is created that matches the form of a chosen poem, but uses different words.  For example, here are the opening stanzas of a poem published in 1799 by Robert Southey (1777-1843) that was later parodied by Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

What are the chances?

Ohioan Miles David Moore is an active participant in Washington, DC literary activities, including a reading series at Arlington's Iota Cafe.  The voice of his literary creation, Fatslug, adds jest and pathos to many readings.  In the poem below, Fatslug is victim of choice and chance:

A Few Lines of Parody

      Recently I re-found -- in my copy of The Mathematical Magpie by Clifton Fadiman (1904-1999)  (Simon and Schuster, 1962) -- these lines by Lewis Untermeyer (1885-1977):

    EINSTEIN:  A PARODY IN THE MANNER OF EDW-N MARKH-M

    We drew our circle that shut him out,
    This man of Science who dared our doubt.
    But ah, with a fourth-dimensional grin
    He squared a circle that took us in.

Untermeyer's lines first appeared in his Collected Parodies.    Here is a link to a second edition (1997) of The Mathematical Magpie (for which the title page description includes:  stories, subsets of essays, rhymes, anecdotes, epigrams . . . rational or irrational . . .)