Math and Metaphor
Humility
Archetypes, mysteries, simple clues
that only fingers and toes, sticks and stones
and flashes of inspiration require
for universes to be disclosed ...
symbols for functions and formulae
for proof; logic so easy for some —
why am I innumerate?
East is east and west is logic,
and it’s said never will they meet.
Yet in hieroglyphs and runes
and Mayan masks, carven calendars,
in the graceful limbs of Arabic,
those signs beyond the Word
beckon curiosity to span the voids.
Plus and minus, powers, infinity ...
zero, prime, sequences, fractals ...
Euclid to Escher, Foucault and Fibonacci,
Seuss to Einstein, abacus to gigabytes ...
the world and wars and philosophy
are in their hands, while I can only
grope for a touch of understanding.
©2010 Joan Cannon for SeniorWomen.com
Math and Metaphor: Using Poetry to Teach College Mathematics
Patrick Bahls
University of North Carolina, Asheville
Math is everywhere, and most people don’t even realize it. For the longest time
I found math boring and confusing — just a bunch of numbers and symbols
jumbled together, or word problems with juvenile purposes. (For example,
would I really care about the rate water leaks from a bucket?) When I realized
the concepts were actually relevant, and could be used to solve relevant problems, my feelings changed. Many of [my] poems definitely reflect my shift in
attitude, and my realization that mathematics can be incredibly interesting.
— Katherine, Fall 2007 Calculus I student
In the fall 2007 semester at the University of North Carolina, Asheville, I asked
the students in my two sections of Calculus I to complete an atypical mathematics assignment. Each student was prompted to write a poem (a few students would end up writing several) offering the reader insight into her or his experience with mathematics. I have since assigned the same exercise to students enrolled in my Fall 2008 Precalculus course, with more or less the same success.
Painting: The Persian Poet and Mathematician, Omar Khayyám,Wikkipedia
Pages: 1 · 2
More Articles
- National Institutes of Health: For Healthy Adults, Taking Multivitamins Daily is Not Associated With a Lower Risk of Death
- Julia Sneden Wrote: Love Your Library
- "Henry Ford Innovation Nation", a Favorite Television Show
- National Institutes of Health: COVID-19 Vaccines Linked to Small Increase in Menstrual Cycle Length
- Ask KHN (Kaiser Health News) - PolitiFact: Is My Cloth Mask Good Enough? The 2022 Edition
- The Stanford Center on Longevity: The New Map of Life
- KFF, Kaiser Family Foundation: Vaccinating Children Ages 5-11; Policy Considerations for COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
- Journalist's Resource: Religious Exemptions and Required Vaccines; Examining the Research
- Julia Sneden Wrote: Old Dogs, New Tricks
- How to Talk With Someone About COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: "There's so much tension that people don't want to risk a relationship"