Math
Mathematics is a vast, deep jungle of ideas, ways to think about number, shape, sets, and much more. One of the best guideposts to some of the depth of its diversity is the book The Book of Numbers by John H. Conway & Richard K. Guy. Highly recommended to the math-curious among us.
Three aspects from the realms of mathematics have drawn my attention & interest over the years.
- I thought “balanced ternary” numbers to be an original idea until someone else’s research pointed me to one volume of Donald Knuth’s Art of Computer Programming, which I’d had as a text in college. Dr. Knuth and I believe balanced ternary numbers to have a natural beauty not expressed in binary, decimal or other-based numbers as they’re normally expressed.
- N-grams is the name I give to an exploration triggered through exploration of the math behind the enneagram. The third drawing [of the seven across the top of this blog (mid 2010)] is a representation of the enneagram that I’ve tweaked to get across a mathematical point.
- Dimensionalities is the term I take to explorations triggered from studying Buckminster Fuller into the coordinate systems “indigenous” to the Platonic solids and related objects.
Two of these, balanced ternary and dimensionalities tie into ideas around measurement and accuracy that are not fully expressed here.
None of these are subjects for cocktail conversation. Few others are interested in even thinking about understanding such mathematical esoterica. Perhaps you’re one of the few – if so welcome. Make a cogent comment.
