tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4763772100015353700.post3034637586657385723..comments2023-10-11T14:18:03.816+01:00Comments on Works Well: How not to court popularityRoderick Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4763772100015353700.post-53802126372075331812009-03-08T19:53:00.000+00:002009-03-08T19:53:00.000+00:00Don't know how she's managed it all really, and sh...Don't know how she's managed it all really, and she's only a slip of a thing, you know, looks about 22, even with two nippers at foot...Lucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09764296105901909328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4763772100015353700.post-91400096654130726412009-03-05T11:38:00.000+00:002009-03-05T11:38:00.000+00:00Good grief, Julia, when are these revelations goin...Good grief, Julia, when are these revelations going to end? No I didn't realise you were an ex-journalist but then I didn't need to. I'd already established you were (are) a polymath so that covered you for all other occupations (diamond polisher, incunabulist, teacher of Polish-as-a-foreign-language, etc, etc) as well as membership of The Fourth Estate.<BR/><BR/>What I was really apologising for (and I promise to stop doing this) is that in written exchanges it's more difficult to judge the resilience of the recipent to something teasing than it would be, face to face, in conversation. There have already been blogging occasions where I have offended and I didn't want to add to them. On the other hand I don't want to cramp what I laughingly refer to as my style. Exeunt to The Prisoners' Chorus from <EM>Fidelio</EM> and thanks for the benediction.Roderick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4763772100015353700.post-49788395942274360732009-03-05T10:12:00.000+00:002009-03-05T10:12:00.000+00:00I'm an ex-journalist too, can't you tell? So don't...I'm an ex-journalist too, can't you tell? So don't apologize and please don't give up blogging!Juliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02381204473168533313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4763772100015353700.post-74128730302261096542009-03-04T09:48:00.000+00:002009-03-04T09:48:00.000+00:00I'm an ex-journalist which means I know one, or so...I'm an ex-journalist which means I know one, or sometimes two, things about everything - enough to get me started in an interview. The only thing I knew about topology was it concerned itself with the maths (You say tomater, I say tomato) of complex, usually curved, surfaces. The minute I'd commented on your comment I regretted it since it could only be construed as showing off - a growing tendency which may force me to give up blogging for good.<BR/><BR/>However since you rode my punch and gave as good as you got I am now delighted. There's a good chance that knot theory may appeal to others (ie, non-crypto maths fans) on purely semantic grounds. Gosh, we're a long way from <EM>Rondo all turca</EM>. Anyway, thanksRoderick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4763772100015353700.post-63237250834989340412009-03-03T21:11:00.000+00:002009-03-03T21:11:00.000+00:00This is what happens when I try to avoid using the...This is what happens when I try to avoid using the word math/s by being specific ;-). <BR/><BR/>Upon enquiry, I've been informed that there are in fact several branches of topology (algebraic was tossed out as an example). <BR/><BR/>I believe that I prefer geometric, as it contains knot theory. Who could argue against the unknot, the wild knot and the Borromean ring? Also, these knots seem to have the ability to writhe and may even quandle. (My apologies to anyone who actually understands knot theory. I admit I am a fan for language alone!)Juliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02381204473168533313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4763772100015353700.post-41297386257451470642009-03-03T18:03:00.000+00:002009-03-03T18:03:00.000+00:00I don't want to be a smarty-boots, Julia, given th...I don't want to be a smarty-boots, Julia, given that yet again you've raised the tone of my blog, but is there any other kind of topologist? But then as I pose the question, the answer rises unbidden. Given that present-day science consists of studying more and more about less and less there's probably a group of topologists at Woods Hole who do it underwater.<BR/><BR/>I've read the Kant quote ten times and find myself laughing (rather hollowly) at the word "simply". A great joker, old Immanuel.Roderick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4763772100015353700.post-2206433394603661142009-03-03T17:25:00.000+00:002009-03-03T17:25:00.000+00:00My brother-in-law (a geometric topologist) would a...My brother-in-law (a geometric topologist) would agree, though he might add that this is true as long as philosophy doesn't get involved. See below for evidence:<BR/><BR/>"Number is therefore simply the unity of synthesis of the manifold of a homogeneous intuition in general, a unity due to my generating time itself in the apprehension of the intuition."<BR/><BR/>Critique of Pure Reason, Immanuel KantJuliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02381204473168533313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4763772100015353700.post-27251858380868671932009-03-03T15:34:00.000+00:002009-03-03T15:34:00.000+00:00Reported in Boston (which pleased me) but initiate...Reported in Boston (which pleased me) but initiated in Redwood City, Calif (which disappointed me). Because I'm much more of a Red Sox/MIT fan than I am a Dodgers/Berkeley fan. I was also disappointed that Boston found it necessary to toss a sop to the mathematically challenged and explain that three is the square root of nine. In fact the date sequence 3/3/09 can, given the insertion of parentheses, be regarded as a pair of divisions giving the answer 0.11111 (as many ones as you like) provided that 09 is not 0.09 in which case the answer is 11.111. You see how easy it is to get yourself disliked by showing an interest in maths (which the Americans call "math" and which I've always felt made it seem a simpler proposition).Roderick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4763772100015353700.post-33051286042255018802009-03-03T12:46:00.000+00:002009-03-03T12:46:00.000+00:00Then there's Square Root Day for the math buffs: h...Then there's Square Root Day for the math buffs: http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2009/03/02/3309_math_fans_to_celebrate_square_root_day/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com