Mathematics, Humanities, and the Language Arts: An Introduction
In this short introduction, the section “Mathematics, Humanities, and the Language Arts” of the Handbook of the Mathematics of the Arts and Sciences is discussed.
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Contents Cross-References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Abstract In this short introduction, the section “Mathematics, Humanities, and the Language Arts” of the Handbook of the Mathematics of the Arts and Sciences is discussed.
Keywords Literature · Mathematics · Poetry · Mathematics and Fiction
Mathematics is at the heart of four of the seven historic liberal arts (arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy, making up the quadrivium). As such it is natural to expect that today’s humanists would feel some kinship towards mathematics. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case. Most humanists do not associate mathematics with the humanities; they see the humanist’s task as decidedly disjoint from that of the mathematician. Of course, this perspective is not limited to the humanists; many mathematicians agree. Several contributors of this handbook, on the other hand, feel strongly that the humanities and mathematics are close relatives,
G. Karaali () Department of Mathematics, Pomona College, Pomona, CA, USA e-mail: [email protected] B. Sriraman () Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 B. Sriraman (ed.), Handbook of the Mathematics of the Arts and Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70658-0_144-1
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though they may not always be on speaking terms. They view the intertwining of mathematical themes and structures in works of literature as one of the many bridges between these two worlds. Numerous examples abound where such bridges have been instrumental in bringing interesting mathematics to the public eye as well as tackling societal themes subversively. Edwin A. Abbot’s Flatland is one such classic, where geometry was used to satirize and challenge the mores of Victorian society. Charles Dodgson’s Euclid and his Modern Rivals is another good example where contemporary geometry books were compared to the 13 books of Euclid’s Elements and were deemed inferior to the treatment of geometry in the Elements. The contributors to this section of the Handbook of the Mathematics of the Arts and Sciences offer us an eclectic selection of chapters where we can see for ourselves how the mathematical and the literary can come together to weave a coherent and even elegant tapestry. Perhaps because the emphasis on form and concision in poetry especially appeals to the mathematical aesthete, most of the articles in this section focus on mathematical poetry and the poetry of mathematics. Gizem Karaali and Lawrence M. Lesser, in their chapter “ Mathematics and Poetry: Arts of the Heart,” offer a broad overview of the world of mathematical poetry, by exploring the closely related phrases “mathematical poetry,” “poetic mathematics,” “mathematics of poetry,” and “poetry of mathematics.” In his chapter titled “ Poems Structured by Mathematics,” Daniel May zeroes in on the formal relat
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