i is a number (I’m not)
| i has a special faculty
it’s constructed totally there’s no other complex number that’s like that i was made up to create the opportunity to solve equations in physics what if i is the square root of minus one what if i DOES exist? turns out you can count on it to disappear once the equation is solved i made things possible that weren’t possible before |
i have a special faculty i am constructed totally there’s no other complex being that’s like me i was made up to create the opportunity to solve equations somewhere, somehow what if i am a square root of minus one what if I Do exist? turns out you can count on me to disappear once the equation is solved i make things possible that weren’t possible before |
|
solve equations create opportunities i will disappear |
equations solved opportunities created i did disappear |
The prompt today at octpowrimo.com was numbers, and host Amy McGrath provided a list of numbers that have specific connotations. My in house mathematician tried to get me to write about cardinal numbers, because they’re counterintuitive, beautiful, inventive and realising they existed needed a lot of inventiveness and creativity (all hail the fabulous brain of Georg Cantor!).
I, on the other hand, fell immediately for i… i has more poetic opportunties than I’ve used. Look at this:
- the powers of i repeat in a cycle
- dividing by i is equivalent to multiplying by the reciprocal of i
Doesn’t that want to make you do math – or write a poem?
If you like my attempt at combining poetry with science, you can find more when you click on the tag science.
Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mpancha/2505656136
