Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Thats Mathematics
by Tom Lehrer
Counting sheep
When youre trying to sleep,
Being fair
When theres something to share,
Being neat
When youre folding a sheet,
Thats mathematics!
When a ball
Bounces o of a wall,
When you cook
From a recipe book,
When you know
How much money you owe,
Thats mathematics!
How much gold can you hold in an elephants ear?
When its noon on the moon, then what time is it here?
If you could count for a year, would you get to innity,
Or somewhere in that vicinity?
When you choose
How much postage to use,
When you know
Whats the chance it will snow,
When you bet
And you end up in debt,
Oh try as you may,
You just cant get away
From mathematics!
Andrew Wiles gently smiles,
Does his thing, and voila!
Q.E.D., we agree,
And we all shout hurrah!
As he conrms what Fermat
Jotted down in that margin,
Which couldve used some enlargin.
Tap your feet,
Keepin time to a beat,
Of a song
While youre singing along,
Harmonize
With the rest of the guys,
Yes, try as you may,
You just cant get away
From mathematics!
The interpretation
The stanza which talks about Andrew Wiles is a reference to the proof of Fermats last theorem,
which was proposed by Fermat, found in the margin of a book after his death in 1665, and was
nally proven by Andrew Wiles (a mathematician at Princeton) 350 year later, in 1994. Fermats
last theorem asserts that x
n+yn=z
n
has no whole number solutions for values of n > 2
A Pi Lymeric
There once was a number Pi
Very special like e and phi
Circumference to d
Is the ratio for me
And it's not a multiple of I
Derivatives, Derivatives
By: Denise Fuji McCleary
Derivatives, derivatives
They help us find the rate of change.
Derivatives, derivatives
Theyre not that hard, theyre in our range.
The product rule is so much fun
Its one prime plus two prime one
Derivatives, derivatives
They help you find the rate of change.
A Maths Poem
by Andrew N.
Is it a decimal or is it a fraction,
Should I divide or use subtraction?
Can anyone tell me what is this shape,
Do we use a ruler or maybe a tape?
One hundred centimetres make one metre,
How many millilitres to a litre?
Push the buttons on a calculator,
Teacher shouts 'Use your brains!' - you'll need them later.
Three times six, find the factor,
(But not using a protractor)
Robert Fuller Murray (1863-1894)
The Delights of Mathematics
It seems a hundred years or more
Since I, with note-book, ink and pen,
In cap and gown, first trod the floor
Which I have often trod since then;
Yet well do I remember when
With fifty other fond fanatics,
I sought delights beyond my ken,
The deep delights of Mathematics.