Sunday, December 25, 2016
One of the Reasons I am a "Night Owl"
So, I am watching this documentary on Thales of Miletus. He was a Greek philosopher/mathematician that lived in the 500's B.C.
He was the first person, in historical record, to accurately predict not just the date, but the time of day for a solar eclipse.
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He was, apparently, a genius, especially at math and geometry.
One of his great writings was a treatise or textbook on geometry.
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That's bad enough, but he wrote in verse (poetry).
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I'm sorry, but that is sick and twisted.
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The question that bugs me is what kind of poet was he?
Are we talking the quality of Shakespeare (the Sonnets, and his plays in iambic pentameter), Coleridge ("Rime of the Ancient Mariner"), or Milton ("Paradise Lost")?
Or was he more along the lines of Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein (He wrote, among other things, "A Boy Named Sue", made famous by Johnny Cash. (My favorite song to do on the rare occasions I do karaoke.) My second favorite poem of his is "The Slithery Dee", as done by The Smothers Brothers.)?
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More importantly, if you are a student of geometry, trying to learn from this book, which would be worse? ... Shakespeare/Coleridge/Milton - ish, or Dr. Seuss/Silverstein -ish?
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I think this might be the worst: "I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-am.
You may like them. You will see. You may like them with geometry!"
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That would just be cruel.
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By the way, of the "serious poets" in the English language, the author of "Beowulf", and Coleridge are my favorites.
"Beowulf" is just cool, on it's own.
I like Coleridge because of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner".
More appropriately, I like Coleridge because of the musical version of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" that Iron Maiden did on their album "Powerslave".
It was half of the album.
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He was the first person, in historical record, to accurately predict not just the date, but the time of day for a solar eclipse.
---
He was, apparently, a genius, especially at math and geometry.
One of his great writings was a treatise or textbook on geometry.
---
That's bad enough, but he wrote in verse (poetry).
---
I'm sorry, but that is sick and twisted.
---
The question that bugs me is what kind of poet was he?
Are we talking the quality of Shakespeare (the Sonnets, and his plays in iambic pentameter), Coleridge ("Rime of the Ancient Mariner"), or Milton ("Paradise Lost")?
Or was he more along the lines of Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein (He wrote, among other things, "A Boy Named Sue", made famous by Johnny Cash. (My favorite song to do on the rare occasions I do karaoke.) My second favorite poem of his is "The Slithery Dee", as done by The Smothers Brothers.)?
---
More importantly, if you are a student of geometry, trying to learn from this book, which would be worse? ... Shakespeare/Coleridge/Milton - ish, or Dr. Seuss/Silverstein -ish?
---
I think this might be the worst: "I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-am.
You may like them. You will see. You may like them with geometry!"
---
That would just be cruel.
---
By the way, of the "serious poets" in the English language, the author of "Beowulf", and Coleridge are my favorites.
"Beowulf" is just cool, on it's own.
I like Coleridge because of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner".
More appropriately, I like Coleridge because of the musical version of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" that Iron Maiden did on their album "Powerslave".
It was half of the album.
---
So, back to the title of this post, and my "Night Owl" nature.
I watch this 6 minute "mini documentary" on this guy "Thales", who I have NEVER heard of before, ... and all of the above springs to mind, not quite coalesced to a point that I can communicate it.
So, I am driven to figure it out, because, if I don't, it will keep me awake. ... one of those "nagging thoughts" that will not leave you alone, or give you respite.
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Hence the name, and "banner" on this blog.
It's the place for me to "spill my guts" to allow me to sleep at night.
Otherwise, all this stuff will keep "rolling around in my head", and keep me from going to sleep.
---
It doesn't help that, since I haven't used this blog in so long, that I have spent about an hour fighting with the "editor" software to make this post readable (and the one before it).
I watch this 6 minute "mini documentary" on this guy "Thales", who I have NEVER heard of before, ... and all of the above springs to mind, not quite coalesced to a point that I can communicate it.
So, I am driven to figure it out, because, if I don't, it will keep me awake. ... one of those "nagging thoughts" that will not leave you alone, or give you respite.
---
Hence the name, and "banner" on this blog.
It's the place for me to "spill my guts" to allow me to sleep at night.
Otherwise, all this stuff will keep "rolling around in my head", and keep me from going to sleep.
---
It doesn't help that, since I haven't used this blog in so long, that I have spent about an hour fighting with the "editor" software to make this post readable (and the one before it).
