(Only marginally related to linguistics.)
Two xkcd cartoons from the world of science (the fundamental forces of physics) and math/computer science (NP-complete problems):
(#1)
(#2)
Archive for March, 2015
xkcd on science and math
March 16, 2015Keister Island
March 16, 2015In the 3/16 New Yorker, this cartoon by Jack Ziegler:
(#1)
Giant buttocks instead of giant heads. And the outrageous pun keister on the rhyming Easter.
Morning name: bilharzia
March 16, 2015This morning’s name: bilharzia (the disease). Memorable name, unpleasant affliction.
The Pides of March
March 15, 2015Yesterday was Pi Day — a particularly good one, 3/14/15 in American date format (for 3.1415) — and today is the Ides of March. So: the Pides of March.
Pi (that is, π) is a transcendental number (in a special mathematical sense of transcendental). Now, a few words about different kinds of numbers.
We start with the natural numbers, the ones we use for counting things: 1, 2, 3, 4, … Everything else is an extension from these: zero (0), fractions, negative numbers, imaginary (vs. real) numbers, complex numbers, irrational (vs. rational) numbers, transcendental (vs. algebraic) numbers, and more.
Most people deal with only a few of these types, and then usually in the context of calculating values for practical purposes, like calculating the area of a circle (A = πr2). For these purposes, we can restrict ourselves to non-negative real numbers, which will be dealt with in computations via decimal fractions.
The universe of these numbers:
1. rational numbers, expressible as the quotient p/q of two integers (q ≠ 0), with two subtypes as decimal fractions;
1a. terminating decimals, like .1 (for 1/10), .2 (for 1/5), and .5 (for 1/2);
1b. repeating decimals, like .142857142857142857… i.e. .142857, with an underline marking off the repeated part (for 1/7); for practical purposes in computations, approximations will be necessary (say, .14 for 1/7);
2. irrational numbers, not so expressible (so their decimal expansions will be non-terminating and non-repeating, and approximations will be necessary for practical purposes in computations), with two subtypes:
2a. algebraic irrationals; an algebraic number is the root of a polynomial equation with rational coefficients. For example, √2 ( = 1.414…), the positive root of x2 – 2 = 0.
2b. transcendental irrationals, ones that are not algebraic, like π ( = 3.1415…).
It took some considerable time for people to accept the existence of irrational numbers. Pythagoras balked at the idea. Now it turns out that most numbers are irrational, and indeed, nearly all numbers are transcendental. Most of us just don’t have to deal with many of them.
(Teachers often give approximations to irrationals for the purpose of computation; 22/7 or 3 1/7 is sometimes suggested as a approximation to π for these purposes, and then since 1/7 = .142857, you might want to approximate that, as 3.14 or 3.143.)
The fog of memory
March 15, 2015Today’s Doonesbury has Mark Slackmeyer interviewing Roland Hedley about Hedley’s reporting:
(Having Mark, an NPR reporter, turn to Twitter to check out the news is a nice touch.) The interview was touched off by the Brian Williams affair.
Hawaii Five-0 hunks
March 14, 2015(Not much linguistics here.)
In the middle of the night on Saturdays here the TNT network shows re-runs of the current Hawaii Five-0 tv series, so I’m kept alert by acrobatic fistfights, exchanges of gunfire, and car chases all over scenic Hawaii. And the banter between the two principal characters — it’s a buddy drama, a bro show — with significant interludes of muscular shirtlessness.
Miss Peach
March 14, 2015In response to my Zippy posting earlier today in which I looked for the source of the strip’s title, “Peachy Keen”, Drew Smith suggested that the peach part came from the strip Miss Peach rather than (my suggestion) the game character Princess Peach. At issue was the model or models for a grotesquely big-headed character in the Zippy. I wasn’t entirely convinced, but now I see that Miss Peach seems not to have come up on this blog, so it would be worth discussing.
From cute to creepy
March 14, 2015Today’s Zippy:
(#1)
The strip is both entertaining and instructive on its own, but then Bill Griffith would be unlikely to just invent a creepy cartoon character. And then there’s the title, “Peachy Keen”.
Two more mornings
March 14, 2015Two more morning names: yesterday, Robin Wright; today, the plant photinia.
Terry Pratchett
March 13, 2015Announced all over the place, the death of Terry Pratchett. From the BBC site yesterday, with a wonderful photo:
Sir Terry Pratchett, fantasy author and creator of the Discworld series, has died aged 66, eight years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. [well, an early-onset dementia]
“The world has lost one of its brightest, sharpest minds,” said Larry Finlay of his publishers Transworld.
The author died at home, surrounded by his family, “with his cat sleeping on his bed”, he added.
Sir Terry wrote more than 70 books during his career and completed his final book last summer.
He “enriched the planet like few before him” and through Discworld satirised the world “with great skill, enormous humour and constant invention,” said Mr Finlay.
