Frank, you are being modest. You sum it up very well. All the best! Raimo Personal photography homepage at http://www.uusikaupunki.fi/~raikorho
-----Alkuperäinen viesti----- Lähettäjä: frank theriault <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Vastaanottaja: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Päivä: 30. joulukuuta 2002 23:13 Aihe: Re: OT: Numbers and the Golden Section >Hi, Bob, > >You know, I think that quote kind of sums up all of these threads that have quite >exploded here in the last several days. (which I've enjoyed immensely, btw, even >though much of it goes over my flat head) > >Kelvin was a scientist. He needed mathematics to explain what he was doing. It was >his language. > >Some things can't be completely explained with the language of mathematics (at least >not yet). Many try to express these things with other "languages" (for lack of a >better term). Sometimes philosophical treatises are used in an attempt to express >these concepts. Some use art (I guess that's why many philosophers write novels and >plays). Sometimes music, dance, and the visual arts (including photography!!) are >the medium of choice. > >To Kelvin (and apparently some others on this list), if it can't be expressed >mathematically, the knowledge is "meager and unsatisfactory", because it can't be >expressed in "his language". For others, the arts is a way to try to explain and >observe the world. > >All are valid. But, all fail to completely and satisfactorily explain ~everything~. > >Which is why we have scientists, mathematicians, philosophers and artists. And which >is why the lines between these disciplines are often very blurry, because when you >come down to it, they're all trying to explain the same thing. > >Sorry if I'm not making sense here, because I'm really none of the above. I'm just a >bike courier who like to take photographs. <vbg> > >cheers, >frank > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: >> >> > Well, ok, but since thoughts of a possible ET arose in the mind of man >> > mathematics has been described by scientists and science fiction writers >> > alike as the only universal language with which we might begin communication. >> >> Personally, I have an old quote hanging in my office from Lord Kelvin. You know, >the guy who invented the Kelvinator, the early models of the home refrigerator. Lord >Kelvin said "When you can measure and express it in numbers, you know something about >it; but when you cannot... your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind." >> >> It drive my marketing research/focus group colleagues crazy! <g> >> >> Regards, Bob S. > >-- >"The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it >is true." -J. Robert >Oppenheimer > >
