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Published: 2006-10-10 14:32:26 +0000 UTC; Views: 2489; Favourites: 15; Downloads: 67
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Description
Numbers are immutable, yet relative, yet mysterious in all their unlimited discrete symmetries (like the famed, unproven Riemann's conjecture , or the neverending search for larger and larger prime number s*).I recently found my uncle's old dust-covered univeristy logarithmic table: a booklet where numerical values of most-used algebraic and transcendental functions were recorded in long, boring tables since computers and calculators were not widely available at that time.
That inspired me to gift the booklet with a whole photo session which this shot ―manipulated as a digital negative only― belongs to. My homage to such boring tables which, in all of their seriality, really helped physicists and mathematicians of the past unravel many mysteries surrounding integer numbers which, still today, are the key to important applications like particles' accelerators and encryption security over the internet).
[ oEXIF = iso200, f/3.5, 1/800”, 80mm, Av, DNG ]
* On September 11th, 2006 the currently largest known prime number, known as the 44th Mersenne number M44, possessing 9,808,358 decimal digits, was discovered by a team of German number-theorists and a powerful computing grid (sixteen 1.5GHz Itanium®-2 CPUs); cfr. mathworld.com News 2006-09-11.
[edit]
On August 23rd, 2008, the currently largest prime number , known as the 47th Mersenne number M47, possessing 12,978,189 decimal digits, was discovered.
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Comments: 50
FoxLoxley [2011-01-19 03:49:56 +0000 UTC]
Looking at this is just so interesting, I think. My father gave me his grade 13 minilexicon of mathematics today (1981 print year), and looking at it, you realize how deep it all goes. For some reason, logarithms are my favourite part of math, by far.
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WalterMB In reply to FoxLoxley [2011-01-19 18:54:06 +0000 UTC]
And apart from an essential theoretical tool, they are so important to applied sciences and technology: they really bridge the gap between arithmetics and real-world.
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FoxLoxley In reply to WalterMB [2011-01-19 21:04:33 +0000 UTC]
Very true. To me, though, the interest lies in the various mathematical intricacies withing the logarithms themselves. I am nowhere near understanding the calculus, yet, but it's all the little things that interest me, like log(10/5)=log10-log5. It's just so damn cool.
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DarkOnister [2010-07-24 19:26:34 +0000 UTC]
Ah yes my Maths tutor at college said we all depend on calculators far too much that we become stupid. "Technology makes us lazy"
He spoke about Logarithm tables and made us use them to truely understand Logarithms.
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WalterMB In reply to DarkOnister [2010-07-25 00:44:45 +0000 UTC]
Logarithms are very important: they're the key to bring nature down to the numbers of our human maths.
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WalterMB In reply to Ahmedqatar [2010-07-22 18:04:23 +0000 UTC]
Not really, if you have at least one tool on a computer/palm/smartphone to do that for you (it's really bloody faster on a computer); but they're really fashionable
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Ahmedqatar In reply to WalterMB [2010-07-23 12:35:01 +0000 UTC]
I used this book but now calculators can do magic!!
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Vironevaeh [2010-07-21 19:41:52 +0000 UTC]
I really like how you've done this... I love log tables, though they're useless-ish now. My chem e handbook has all kinds of mathy tables, I love them.
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WalterMB In reply to Vironevaeh [2010-07-21 20:09:18 +0000 UTC]
If your chem handbook is the Perry's Chemical Engineering one congrats: that's one of the most complete book on that subject and, besides, one with the widest and most complete introductory appendices and mathematical/physical tables.
Thanks, by the way
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Vironevaeh In reply to WalterMB [2010-07-22 02:00:05 +0000 UTC]
Yep... 3rd edition from some time in the 70s, so lots of numerical delights!
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WalterMB In reply to Vironevaeh [2010-07-22 18:03:13 +0000 UTC]
Yeah, they had some of those old edition at my university: I know what you're talking about
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WalterMB In reply to Growl [2006-11-20 14:03:15 +0000 UTC]
ti posso capire....
Hey, grazie del fa piacere risentirti ogni tanto!
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Growl In reply to WalterMB [2006-11-20 14:06:09 +0000 UTC]
sono sempre qui walter
solo parlo poco e scrivo di meno
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flx2000 [2006-11-03 13:50:56 +0000 UTC]
al solito, "walteriana" dai colori alle forme eheh
molto carina
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WalterMB In reply to BurlapZack [2006-10-24 20:08:22 +0000 UTC]
maths can be fun indeed if you approach it in the right way. thanks!
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oolin88 [2006-10-24 04:16:16 +0000 UTC]
I love reading your mathematical comments on your work ... thank you for the delight...
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WalterMB In reply to oolin88 [2006-10-24 20:11:00 +0000 UTC]
You're welcome: since your interest in mathematics, it's a pleasure to read such a clean comment to a creation of mine. I knew you'd have appreciated and I recall to have been thinking of you in the shooting instant
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oolin88 In reply to WalterMB [2006-10-24 22:26:34 +0000 UTC]
I've been trying to think how to answer your question on the intregal of log e to power of 3x + c ... etc... yes it all simplifies to something very simple... well, you caught me. it looked cool that s all! you are right . the log of base e is natural log > ln of e to the anything is that anything so.. yup all that just ends up being a simple little linear equation... who would 've know someone would actually pay attention to the details of mathematics in this place da!!!!! dah
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WalterMB In reply to oolin88 [2006-10-25 01:01:26 +0000 UTC]
Mathematical symbols certainly bear much fascination, that is doubtless: for this reason your picture if extremely appealing, regardless of the simplificability of the expressions, so don't worry about that. As far as me carefully watching maths in your work I'd like to point out I wasn't searching any rigour in that, but just seeking if the mathematical meaning of the formula you typed in had, artistically, something to do with the drawing itself
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oolin88 In reply to WalterMB [2006-10-26 22:04:47 +0000 UTC]
how is your theses comin along?
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psylocke2k7 [2006-10-20 06:47:36 +0000 UTC]
spero ke non racconterai ai tuoi figli una simile favola
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WalterMB In reply to glitterdarkstar [2006-10-15 21:34:59 +0000 UTC]
Indubbiamente quale azzurro?
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glitterdarkstar In reply to WalterMB [2006-10-16 08:33:14 +0000 UTC]
quello in alto a destra...
nn dire che è ciano eh
8si mormora che io nn distingua i colori ma è solo malignità eheh)
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WalterMB In reply to glitterdarkstar [2006-10-16 09:45:41 +0000 UTC]
No no va bene per carità anche a me "ciano" sta un po' sulle balle come nome, poi la percezione del colore è tutta soggettiva.....
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glitterdarkstar In reply to WalterMB [2006-10-16 09:55:45 +0000 UTC]
eheh cyan è più carino diciamo
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WalterMB In reply to glitterdarkstar [2006-10-16 10:07:15 +0000 UTC]
corcordo. L'accostamento di queste tonalità (verde-ciano-giallo) è forse quello a me più caro sai?
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glitterdarkstar In reply to WalterMB [2006-10-16 11:20:01 +0000 UTC]
è un bell'effetto.. affetto credo anche di capire
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DottorDestino [2006-10-11 16:29:54 +0000 UTC]
mi piacciono molto i toni...
ma mi domando..
come mai al contrario?
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WalterMB In reply to DottorDestino [2006-10-11 18:27:33 +0000 UTC]
La ragione c'è ed è duplice.
- Per prima cosa i numeri non sono sempre come appaiono, vanno guardati da “altre angolature” meno banali per essere correttamente interpretati. Di primo acchiotto penso alla matematica pura: dove vengono scomposti in fattori primi per discernere la loro divisibilità, la loro appartenenza a certi gruppi algebrici; oppure, nelle scienze applicate, il fatto che un numero è sempre legato ad un'unità di misura (una sbarra è lunga “1 metri”, non “12”
, al metodo con cui tale misurazione è effettuata (campionatura su cui effettuare misure statistiche, precisione degli strumenti di laboratorio, etc.), ai limiti di validità dell'esperimento/sondaggio/quant'altro.
- Il secondo motivo è puramente logistico: avendo a disposizione una certa angolazione della luce naturale ed essendo i fogli “
ettinati” dal tempo in un certo verso una volta aperto il libro, l'effetto che volevo ottenere era possibile componendo in quel modo
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DottorDestino In reply to WalterMB [2006-10-12 17:01:01 +0000 UTC]
uuuuhh
direi che mi hai dato una risposta più che esauriente
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WalterMB In reply to KLOD [2006-10-11 11:21:48 +0000 UTC]
è vero ciò che dici, ma perché lo dici rispetto a sta foto?
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KLOD In reply to WalterMB [2006-10-11 12:22:10 +0000 UTC]
Premetto che la descrizione non l'ho letta. Troppo lunga per il mio inglese
E' un pò inusuale immortalare un libro pieno di numeri...molto matrix o da scoppiati
Sicuramente è originale.
Questo non lo metto in dubbio.
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frescendine [2006-10-10 15:34:46 +0000 UTC]
Bello il fuoco ma soprattutto la tonalità.. well done walter!
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WalterMB In reply to frescendine [2006-10-10 19:53:13 +0000 UTC]
Grazie del commento: sono contento ti sia piaciuta per questi due aspetti!
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