From Snapshots of the Mind:
Pi is a paradigm
Running in the early morning in the Mississippi fog is magical. So, I wasn't surprised, emerging from wisps of fog at the back of the French Quarter Cathedral, to read, inscribed in large black letters on the wall ahead of me: "Pi is a paradigm."
My mind read a great mathematical transcendental truth. The discovery and the acknowledgment of π had indeed been a new mathematical paradigm. I didn't even feel surprised that some unknown inscriber had glorified the magnificence of the circular measure in graffiti.
But as I got closer to the wall and the fog cleared on my contact lenses, I was brought rapidly back to earth.
The message actually read, "Pipi is a paragon."
It was not quite so profound a message perhaps, but it was a lot more meaningful for Mardi Gras in New Orleans. I would have liked to meet Pipi.
Now, who claims that running is boring? In one fell swoop I had progressed from the sublime to the ridiculous, from the profound to the elemental -- and both messages were worthy of contemplation.
Back to Earlier Books
Pi is a paradigm
Running in the early morning in the Mississippi fog is magical. So, I wasn't surprised, emerging from wisps of fog at the back of the French Quarter Cathedral, to read, inscribed in large black letters on the wall ahead of me: "Pi is a paradigm."
My mind read a great mathematical transcendental truth. The discovery and the acknowledgment of π had indeed been a new mathematical paradigm. I didn't even feel surprised that some unknown inscriber had glorified the magnificence of the circular measure in graffiti.
But as I got closer to the wall and the fog cleared on my contact lenses, I was brought rapidly back to earth.
The message actually read, "Pipi is a paragon."
It was not quite so profound a message perhaps, but it was a lot more meaningful for Mardi Gras in New Orleans. I would have liked to meet Pipi.
Now, who claims that running is boring? In one fell swoop I had progressed from the sublime to the ridiculous, from the profound to the elemental -- and both messages were worthy of contemplation.
Back to Earlier Books