(A poem that I don't agree with but whose spirit of naked rebellion of order I find difficult not to admire)
When I heard the learn'd astronomer;
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;
When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and
measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much
applause in the lecture-room,
How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;
Till rising and gliding out, I wander'd off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.
- Walt Whitman
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6 comments:
have you read the spoof by some mathematician? :P it was there in that techfest newsletter pappu patel printed
No I haven't yet. Could you send it over if you have a copy with you?
The spoof is by Scott Aaronson. You'll find it on his website.
When I Heard the Learn'd Poet
by Scott Aaronson
"When I heard the learn'd poet,
When the Freudian symbolism, the Biblical allusions, were ranged in
columns before me,
When I was shown the themes and styles, to analyze, categorize,
and criticize them,
When I sitting heard the poet where she lectured
with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself,
In the rational dry night-air, and dropped my copy of Leaves of Grass
off a cliff,
And correctly predicted that it would hit the ground in 3.82 seconds"
Thank you! I subscribed to Scott Aaronson only recently. Hadn't read this post yet.
@purshya: well, who knows whether things will be the same when we start grad school :-(. But that said, google reader has definitely made things very easy in recent times.
You should definitely use it unless you are doing it already.
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