mpoppers@aecom.UUCP (06/04/84)
I beg your indulgence in interrupting all these postings of interesting numbers with a nice poem I saw in Mathematics Magazine, May 1984 issue - perhaps it will bring all you theoreticians out there back to reality (the Rth dimension): O U R M A T H E M A T I C A L A L P H A B E T ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As I recite the alphabet to one who's only three The world of mathematics is opened up to me. For a,b,c are constants or parameters assigned And D is a determinant or distance undefined. The image which e gives to me is one I can't erase For it can only mean for me the logarithmic base. F,G,H are functions with appropriate domain And i's a unit vector in the Gauss or complex plane. J's a Bessel function and another kind is K. L's a linear operator or inductance, one could say. M and N are integers, but m could be a mass. O is the number zero but 0's the empty class. P and Q give odds that you will win or lose a bet. R gives correlation of two variables you have met. I see before me Einstein's world when I hear S and T, For they make me think of space and time and relativity. At this point I'm so deep in thought of time and space and such That velocity components u, v, w don't seem much. Perhaps some day that three-year old may learn when fully grown Why x, y, z imply for me how much there is unknown.