Roger Penrose likes complex numbers. The renowned physicist Roger Penrose has written several excellent books on mathematical physics aimed at the interested layperson - these include the classic The Emperor's New Mind and his newest book The Road to Reality. What I like about Penrose is that he's easy to read, and he explains things as if he actually wants and expects you to understand them. I'm slowly working my way through TRTR right now. As in TENM, Penrose provides a lot of information on the role of complex numbers - numbers that have a "real" part and an "imaginary" part. Imaginary numbers are multiples of i, the square root of -1. (As we all know, -1 doesn't have a square root. That's why they're called "imaginary" numbers. No, really.) For Penrose, one of the key concepts in the development of mathematics (and science in general) has been the process of generalizing a useful concept to provide new insights. For example, transcendental numbers like pi - also called "irrational" numbers because they can't be expressed as the quotient, or "ratio", of two integers - were viewed warily in the Pythagorean world. But once mathematicians started allowing themselves to work with these numbers, many important discoveries were made. "In many instances, this drive for mathematical consistency and elegance takes us to mathematical structures and concepts which turn out to mirror the physical world in a much deeper and more broad-ranging way than those that we started with."
And so, the introduction of the concept of seemingly impossible imaginary numbers allows us to gain amazing new insights. Picture imaginary numbers on a "number line" of their own - at right angles to the familiar "number line" of real numbers. (And speaking of the number line, remember when you first learned about negative numbers? Up until then, you'd been taught that you couldn't have any number less than zero, and you couldn't subtract a bigger number from a smaller number. And then ... well, you see what RP is talking about.) So just for fun, we're turning the old number line into a grid, and now we can plot complex numbers (some real number + some imaginary number) on this grid. Now what happens if we add these numbers? Or multiply them? (Remember, i times i is minus one.) And now the real fun begins. You gotta read Penrose to find out the rest.
Volcano discovered on Titan. Space.com reports: 'Scientists think they've spotted a large volcano on Saturn's smoggy moon Titan. The mountain could be pumping methane into the atmosphere, which would explain the perplexing presence of the chemical that helps create Titan's dense atmospheric shroud. The new study, announced today [June 8], also adds to mounting evidence showing there are no widespread methane oceans on Titan, as scientists had predicted prior to the Cassini mission.' The volcano could help explain the presence of methane in Titan's atmosphere, as new evidence makes the presence of widespread methane oceans on the planet look increasingly unlikely. Frequent volcanic eruptions, with lava flows, would also account for the smooth appearance of Titan's surface.
Space enthusiast Maryam interviewed. Big news! Maryam, aka Kuwaiti Girl, is interviewed by Mister Ghost at In T Views. Read her thoughts on her interest in the space program, the Arab world, the Iraqi invasion of 1990, black holes, string theory, and (naturally) Sergei Kirkalev.
2005-06-08
Women Today
Carrie Brownstein of Portland-based rock trio Sleater-Kinney is interviewed in the June 2005 print issue of Girlfriends. She has some very insightful comments about the 2004 election season:
Two women appointed to office in Kuwait. Fatima al-Sabah and Fawzia al-Bahr have been appointed to a sixteen-member council that oversees planning and civil services in Kuwait, according to Feminist Daily News: 'Further advancing women's political involvement in Kuwait, two women have been appointed to the sixteen-member Municipal Council, which focuses on civil planning and social services. The Council is comprised of ten elected members and six members appointed by the Prime Minister. Reuters reports that Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah announced his appointments and the inclusion of two women earlier this week. According to BBC News, the councilors will be Fatima al-Sabah, a member of the royal family and assistant under-secretary at the Emiri diwan, and Fawzia al-Bahr, an engineer.' Full article at the link.
Q: This was a tough election year in your home state, Oregon, including the passage of the first anti-gay marriage initiative. How did this make you feel?
A: It was a little bit of a shock. It felt like [the whole West] was delusional for not having a sense of the broader political climate. People were forced to reevaluate the reality of the situation. Okay, well, maybe we're not going to get gay marriage. Maybe we skipped a couple of steps here. In the same way that thelarger political left groups feel like they need to go back and be a little more detailed on their agenda.
Two women appointed to office in Kuwait. Fatima al-Sabah and Fawzia al-Bahr have been appointed to a sixteen-member council that oversees planning and civil services in Kuwait, according to Feminist Daily News: 'Further advancing women's political involvement in Kuwait, two women have been appointed to the sixteen-member Municipal Council, which focuses on civil planning and social services. The Council is comprised of ten elected members and six members appointed by the Prime Minister. Reuters reports that Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah announced his appointments and the inclusion of two women earlier this week. According to BBC News, the councilors will be Fatima al-Sabah, a member of the royal family and assistant under-secretary at the Emiri diwan, and Fawzia al-Bahr, an engineer.' Full article at the link.
2005-06-06
Iran Report
Regime deadline approaches. In case you missed my earlier post, a coalition of some 17 Iranian opposition groups delivered an ultimatum (PDF) to the IRI, giving the regime until June 16th to step down. The date corresponds with the date set by the regime for the so-called "elections" (in which just six out of about 1,000 candidates were officially "approved" to run). Some organizations are asking Iranians to stay home with lights darkened in the evenings beginning on June 10 (this Friday) as a gesture of solidarity. The ultimatum also designates June 10 as the starting date for Iran's provisional (post-IRI) government. Read the discussion on the thread at Free Iran.
Samir Kassir
Michael J. Totten remembers Lebanese freedom activist Samir Kassir of the Democratic Left movement, who was killed by a car bomb in Beirut, presumably by Syrian agents.
Read the whole post at the link. Also follow Michael's links to the tributes at Lebanese Political Journal (mark that homepage on your browser while you're at it) and Reason Online.
Deepest sympathy to all those who knew Samir Kassir. And may Lebanon see freedom, security, and peace in our day.
I met him several times when I was in Beirut, twice in the Democratic Left’s headquarters, and once again at a rally. I sat right across from him at a table in that headquarters - as an observer, of course. I can’t say I was scared when I was in Lebanon. I wasn’t, and I wished my wife could have gone with me. But when I sat across from him at those meetings I did feel a bit like I was in the line of fire. I guess I was right.
I can’t say I knew him well, but I did know him. On the surface at any rate, he was a kind, gentle, warm, and welcoming person.
Read the whole post at the link. Also follow Michael's links to the tributes at Lebanese Political Journal (mark that homepage on your browser while you're at it) and Reason Online.
Deepest sympathy to all those who knew Samir Kassir. And may Lebanon see freedom, security, and peace in our day.
Morning Report: June 6, 2004
Good news from Afghanistan. Posting at Winds of Change and elsewhere, Arthur Chrenkoff reports that over 600 Afghan Islamic clerics convened in a ceremony to formally strip Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar of his religious authority. In recognition of this important event, Morning Report and Dreams Into Lightning will no longer refer to the Taliban leader as "Mullah" Omar. Chrenkoff writes: 'This important gathering and its implications were reported by only a handful of news outlets around the world - in stark contrast to the news several days later about the assassination at the hands of the Taliban of the head of the council and the suicide bombing at the historic mosque during his funeral, which appeared through hundreds of media outlets around the world. Faced with this sort of media coverage, President Karzai expressed his exasperation during his recent visit in the United States: "Sometimes - rather often - neither our press, nor your press, nor the press in the rest of the world will pick up the miseries of the Afghans three years ago and what has been achieved since then, until today."' (GNFI / Winds of Change)
Britain defers EU vote; death knell for union? Following a decisive defeat in France and an overwhelming one in the Netherlands, the proposed Constitution for the European Union suffered a potentially fatal setback in the United Kingdom on Monday, as the British government postponed a planned referendum on the document. CNN reports: 'British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has said a referendum on the European constitution has been postponed, following the document's rejection in France and the Netherlands. The EU Council, not the UK, will decide the future of the treaty, he said. But in the circumstances it would not now be sensible to press ahead with a referendum in Britain, Straw told MPs on Monday. "Until the consequences of France and the Netherlands being unable to ratify the treaty are clarified, it would not in our judgment now be sensible to set a date for second reading."' An analysis at Stratfor (subscription service) suggests that Britain prefers not to be seen as the party "putting the bullet in the charter's head", but notes that Britons have historically resisted both the EU project and the adoption of any written constitution. Stratfor concludes that "this sets the stage for a very awkward summit of EU heads of government in Luxembourg on June 16-17." (CNN, Stratfor)
Britain defers EU vote; death knell for union? Following a decisive defeat in France and an overwhelming one in the Netherlands, the proposed Constitution for the European Union suffered a potentially fatal setback in the United Kingdom on Monday, as the British government postponed a planned referendum on the document. CNN reports: 'British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has said a referendum on the European constitution has been postponed, following the document's rejection in France and the Netherlands. The EU Council, not the UK, will decide the future of the treaty, he said. But in the circumstances it would not now be sensible to press ahead with a referendum in Britain, Straw told MPs on Monday. "Until the consequences of France and the Netherlands being unable to ratify the treaty are clarified, it would not in our judgment now be sensible to set a date for second reading."' An analysis at Stratfor (subscription service) suggests that Britain prefers not to be seen as the party "putting the bullet in the charter's head", but notes that Britons have historically resisted both the EU project and the adoption of any written constitution. Stratfor concludes that "this sets the stage for a very awkward summit of EU heads of government in Luxembourg on June 16-17." (CNN, Stratfor)
2005-06-05
So it's been a couple days,
okay, seven, but I needed to take a break from blogging to focus my energies on creative stuff. Light posting today, regular posting resumes tomorrow. Morning Report will return to duty tomorrow.
2005-06-04
New in the Dreams Into Lightning Universe: Morning Report archives
Morning Report has been quietly but persistently requesting a page of its own. So now, for your viewing pleasure, the complete adventures of Morning Report may be found here. The new site will serve as an archive for MR, which will continue to appear daily at Dreams Into Lightning as usual.
2005-05-29
Memorial Day
Please take a moment to remember those who have given their lives in the defense of freedom.
I had the privilege of serving in the armed forces of the United States for ten years. During my four years in the Marine Corps, my unit took part in Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm. Our story is told here:
1st Light Armored Infantry Battalion, USMC
The Marines we lost are remembered here:
In Memoriam
(Mac users: This site is best viewed in Microsoft Internet Explorer; the navigation menus don't show up in Safari and Firefox.)
Have a pleasant Memorial Day weekend. Enjoy the blessings of liberty - and remember, freedom brings responsibility, so celebrate responsibly.
UPDATE: Mamamontezz has Memorial Day posts here and here. Go check 'em out.
The Long Road Home
My reflections on Desert Storm. I served with the First Light Armored Infantry Battalion in the 1990-1991 Kuwait campaign. This item was originally posted here.
Asher Abrams, 1st LAI Battalion USMC, 1989-1993
Posted to the unit veterans’ bulletin board.
“That is a chapter of ancient history which it might be good to recall; for there was sorrow then too, and gathering dark, but great valour, and great deeds that were not wholly in vain.”
-- J.R.R. Tolkien, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ I:2
“It is not your job to finish the task -- but neither are you free to abandon it.”
-- Rabbi Tarfon, 1st century
We gave what our leaders asked of us. If they had asked more, we would have given more.
Before the ground campaign began, we were told that the American forces’ final objective would be Baghdad, and that we would eliminate Saddam Hussein. As we all know, this did not happen. “The word was passed; the word was changed.” But we did liberate Kuwait.
All of us need to know that what we are doing has meaning and purpose. This is especially true in war. War is a hard thing -- having a reason gives us the motivation and the will to fight. Sgt. Michaels talks about this in his book (pp. 97-100): “It’s about my comrade, and his tiny Kuwaiti flag...” I don’t think this is naive. I think it is honest, truthful, and inspiring.
Nothing we do will ever be complete or perfect. If you’ve read ‘The Lord of the Rings’, or seen the movie, you might have noticed that theme. It’s not a story of superheroes, but of little people who are at the mercy of forces greater than themselves. They don’t set out to do great things; they love their home and dream of returning to it. They confront evil in a world that gives them no choice. Only then do they discover what they are truly capable of. Their victory comes with the loss of teachers, leaders, friends, and innocence. But they win, and some come back alive. It falls to them to tell the tale.
One of Dave Snyder’s favorite sayings was, “This isn’t fun anymore. I want to go home!” What made it funny, of course, was that in the military you can’t go home when you want, and a lot of what you do isn’t fun. But in the end Dave got his wish -- he went home before the rest of us.
Those of us who returned alive from Desert Storm have done many things with our lives. Some are still defending our Nation, either as “lifers” or as defense or security personnel. Others may have turned to teaching, creativity, or volunteering, enriching other people’s lives in whatever way we can. (Ken has contributed this site, where we can share our thoughts and memories, and honor our fallen comrades.) Many of us have married or had relationships, raised children, or discovered things about ourselves we had not known before. All of us have given of ourselves, and continue to do so.
We must all, each of us, find our purpose in the world. In war, your purpose is clear: defeat the enemy and come back alive. Life off of the battlefield is not so simple. All of us must find our own way home. It is a long, hard road.
Asher Abrams, 1st LAI Battalion USMC, 1989-1993
Posted to the unit veterans’ bulletin board.
“That is a chapter of ancient history which it might be good to recall; for there was sorrow then too, and gathering dark, but great valour, and great deeds that were not wholly in vain.”
-- J.R.R. Tolkien, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ I:2
“It is not your job to finish the task -- but neither are you free to abandon it.”
-- Rabbi Tarfon, 1st century
We gave what our leaders asked of us. If they had asked more, we would have given more.
Before the ground campaign began, we were told that the American forces’ final objective would be Baghdad, and that we would eliminate Saddam Hussein. As we all know, this did not happen. “The word was passed; the word was changed.” But we did liberate Kuwait.
All of us need to know that what we are doing has meaning and purpose. This is especially true in war. War is a hard thing -- having a reason gives us the motivation and the will to fight. Sgt. Michaels talks about this in his book (pp. 97-100): “It’s about my comrade, and his tiny Kuwaiti flag...” I don’t think this is naive. I think it is honest, truthful, and inspiring.
Nothing we do will ever be complete or perfect. If you’ve read ‘The Lord of the Rings’, or seen the movie, you might have noticed that theme. It’s not a story of superheroes, but of little people who are at the mercy of forces greater than themselves. They don’t set out to do great things; they love their home and dream of returning to it. They confront evil in a world that gives them no choice. Only then do they discover what they are truly capable of. Their victory comes with the loss of teachers, leaders, friends, and innocence. But they win, and some come back alive. It falls to them to tell the tale.
One of Dave Snyder’s favorite sayings was, “This isn’t fun anymore. I want to go home!” What made it funny, of course, was that in the military you can’t go home when you want, and a lot of what you do isn’t fun. But in the end Dave got his wish -- he went home before the rest of us.
Those of us who returned alive from Desert Storm have done many things with our lives. Some are still defending our Nation, either as “lifers” or as defense or security personnel. Others may have turned to teaching, creativity, or volunteering, enriching other people’s lives in whatever way we can. (Ken has contributed this site, where we can share our thoughts and memories, and honor our fallen comrades.) Many of us have married or had relationships, raised children, or discovered things about ourselves we had not known before. All of us have given of ourselves, and continue to do so.
We must all, each of us, find our purpose in the world. In war, your purpose is clear: defeat the enemy and come back alive. Life off of the battlefield is not so simple. All of us must find our own way home. It is a long, hard road.
Posting Break
Dreams Into Lightning will be on a posting break for the week ending June 4 (this Saturday). Morning Report will be on leave. With the exception of a Memorial Day piece, and possible one or two short items today, there will be no new posts until Sunday, June 5.
Have a pleasant and safe Memorial Day weekend. See you next week.
Have a pleasant and safe Memorial Day weekend. See you next week.
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