Monday, March 18, 2013

Power of a theorem

My poetry-math colleague Sarah Glaz has sent me the following pantoum -- which she says was inspired by Ken Yee's pantoum posted in this blog on 6 March 2013Thanks, Sarah, for this poem that not only involves permutations of lines but which also aptly connects the adventure of exploring mathematics with the adventure of self-exploration.  Bravo!

A pantoum for the power of theorems      by Sarah Glaz

          The power of the Invertible Matrix Theorem lies
          in the connections it provides among so many important
          concepts… It should be emphasized, however, that the
          Invertible Matrix Theorem applies only to square matrices.

                                           ―David C. Lay, “Linear Algebra”

 

The power of a theorem lies
In the connections it provides
Among many important concepts
Under a certain set of assumptions  


In the connections it provides
We are always able to find
Under a certain set of assumptions
Some that fell through the cracks

We are always able to find
Neglected aspects of ourselves
Some that fell through the cracks
Left unexplored by mathematics

Neglected aspects of ourselves
(The power of a theorem lies)
Left unexplored by mathematics
Among many important concepts 

 

2 comments:

  1. Hi JoAnne, Thank you for the kind words and for posting my pantoum. Your blog is interesting, enjoyable, and a continuous source of ideas and inspiration. Keep posting... Cheers, Sarah

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    1. Thanks, Sarah, for being one of the readers who keep me going . . .

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