Euler’s equation
Transcendental suspends its pursuit
To coalesce into fundamental
Oscillate in wild flare of imaginary and nothing
Complex contracts to align a form from chaos
So fragile an expression
A delight of unexpected poise
Resonate its brilliance into every cell
A doorway for the mind
Drifting like a dandelion seed
Unaware but aware
In spiraling silence
Or a bee settling on a planet as if a flower
Is this wonder
A hint of consciousness
A portal to merge in the mystery
Suggested reading: Euler’s Pioneering Equation (by Robin Wilson). Euler’s equation (a special case of Euler’s identity) is considered as most beautiful equation in mathematics (and rated second in physics after Maxwell’s equation). It is remarkable in combining five entities, each with deeper mathematical significance, 1, 0, pi, e (exponential growth) and i (imaginary number), as also three fundamental operation addition, multiplication and equality. Feynman calls it ‘our jewel’, others call it mathematical equivalent of Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be”, very short, very succinct. It finds quite a few references in popular culture. Stamps were issued on Euler’s identity. There is a nursery rhyme copied!
Old MacDonald had a farm
e, i, e, i, 0
And on that farm he had 1 pi-g
e, i, e, i, 0
This book traces each entity separately, its history and
significance before bringing it all together. Quite an interesting read but
only for people who have some understanding and interest for maths. I found
reference of Irish astronomer mathematician William Hamilton in the discussion
on imaginary numbers particularly interesting. He discovered quaternions (a way
to represent rotations in three-dimensional space, which has massive
implications for physics, computer graphics, and robotics), after struggling
for fifteen years, it is described that one day he was walking along the canal
in Dublin “I then and there felt the galvanic circuit of thought close; and the
sparks which fell from it were the fundamental equations exactly as I have used
them ever since. I pulled out on the spot a pocket book and made an entry…it is
fair to say that this was because I felt a problem to have been at that moment
solved – an intellectual want relieved which had haunted me for atleast fifteen
years since”. Amazing man.
