I got up this evening
On the inside of zero
Subtraction left nothing
Addition the same
The product of nothing
And nothing left nothing
But wide empty spaces
With nothing between
But then I saw zero
Below me
Dividing
And suddenly nothing
Was real anymore.
Thanks to Craig and Gary for triggering this irrationality.
My Irrational Evening
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Great or hilarious and great poetry as usual.
ReplyDeletepoetry for mathematicians. It's beyond me.
ReplyDeleteI doubt it. Dividing by zero results in a so-called irrational quantity, a.k.a. a complex quantity consisting of a real number plus an "imaginary" number. When the real part equals zero (it does in this case) all that's left is the imaginary portion, which is the foundation of all sorts of interesting stuff, e.g. fractals, the concept of electrical impedance, and of course madness.
ReplyDeleteSi?
This is nought funny, and nothing so much as some numinous noting of integral math. Nice!
ReplyDeleteAnd puts me in mind of:
"the quality of nothing hath not such need to hide itself." - King Lear
and: "Nothing below us,/Above us only sky." -Imagine, John Lennon.
But perhaps most appropos, again from Lear:
"If it be nothing, I shall not need my spectacles."
The new math: Nothing adventured, nothing gained.
"If it be nothing, I shall not need my spectacles" is indeed apropos, painfully so, in light of my constant groping. For my glasses, I mean. Sniff.
ReplyDeleteI still love this.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
ReplyDelete