Mathematics as Poetry
We have all read poetry. Whether we liked it or not was another story. But have we really seen the limits of what can be poetry?
I suggest that even Mathematics can be poetry. Now it is obviously different from regular poetry in that Mathematics is not a natural language. I am not saying that mathematics is something that we created, but it is not used in everyday speech for communication. Mathematics, for the most part, is not subject to the corruption that our languages are subject to.
But Mathematics can be poetic in some of the same ways as English. Mathematics attempts to create descriptions for things accurately; that is, it relates to the truth. Mathematics has it's own "features" that can fit or not fit.
Bertrand Russell wrote, "Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty -- a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture, without appeal to any part of our weaker nature, without the gorgeous trappings of painting or music, yet sublimely pure, and capable of a stern perfection such as only the greatest art can show."
I think that most people never see this beauty, this poetry, in mathematics. I think that the reason is probably that people focus on mathematics as a tool. For most, it is just a means to an end. At first you use it to get good grades in school, and then later on you have to use it for calculating things, like centroids, or tax returns. In situations as these, mathematics is almost delegated to a mechanical process. It is never examined for it's own intrinsic beauty or implications.
I personally think that a beautiful proof is Cantor's diagonalization proof that he used when showing that there exist more real numbers than natural numbers. You have probably already heard or read about this proof from me. For more info, see here.
I also feel that I missed a major point in my post on poetry. One of the interesting aspects of poetry is that it is not concerned with need. Poetry and language are related in almost the same ways as that of a lyre and a warrior. Language is a tool, but at some point one is able to explore the language itself and see the beauty therein. Mathematics, as a language, has that ability. One of the ways we explore English is with rhyme and meter. I think that the main exploration in mathematics is that of proofs and derivations.
See if you can write some poetry this weekend. I want to hear about it.
I suggest that even Mathematics can be poetry. Now it is obviously different from regular poetry in that Mathematics is not a natural language. I am not saying that mathematics is something that we created, but it is not used in everyday speech for communication. Mathematics, for the most part, is not subject to the corruption that our languages are subject to.
But Mathematics can be poetic in some of the same ways as English. Mathematics attempts to create descriptions for things accurately; that is, it relates to the truth. Mathematics has it's own "features" that can fit or not fit.
Bertrand Russell wrote, "Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty -- a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture, without appeal to any part of our weaker nature, without the gorgeous trappings of painting or music, yet sublimely pure, and capable of a stern perfection such as only the greatest art can show."
I think that most people never see this beauty, this poetry, in mathematics. I think that the reason is probably that people focus on mathematics as a tool. For most, it is just a means to an end. At first you use it to get good grades in school, and then later on you have to use it for calculating things, like centroids, or tax returns. In situations as these, mathematics is almost delegated to a mechanical process. It is never examined for it's own intrinsic beauty or implications.
I personally think that a beautiful proof is Cantor's diagonalization proof that he used when showing that there exist more real numbers than natural numbers. You have probably already heard or read about this proof from me. For more info, see here.
I also feel that I missed a major point in my post on poetry. One of the interesting aspects of poetry is that it is not concerned with need. Poetry and language are related in almost the same ways as that of a lyre and a warrior. Language is a tool, but at some point one is able to explore the language itself and see the beauty therein. Mathematics, as a language, has that ability. One of the ways we explore English is with rhyme and meter. I think that the main exploration in mathematics is that of proofs and derivations.
See if you can write some poetry this weekend. I want to hear about it.