home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
/ NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #23 / NN_1992_23.iso / spool / sci / math / 12856 < prev    next >
Encoding:
Internet Message Format  |  1992-10-07  |  1.0 KB

  1. Path: sparky!uunet!charon.amdahl.com!pacbell.com!sgiblab!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!malgudi.oar.net!uoft02.utoledo.edu!desire.wright.edu!wright!bclaus
  2. Newsgroups: sci.math
  3. Subject: Re: Irrational?
  4. Message-ID: <1992Oct7.054117.29714@cs.wright.edu>
  5. From: bclaus@cs.wright.edu (Brian Clausing)
  6. Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 05:41:17 GMT
  7. References: <1992Oct6.162043.5000@Princeton.EDU>
  8. Organization: Wright State University
  9. Lines: 13
  10.  
  11. From article <1992Oct6.162043.5000@Princeton.EDU>, by tao@potato.princeton.edu (Terry Tao):
  12. > I think the english version of irrational, meaning nonsensical, comes from the
  13. > Pythagorean point of view that ratios of integers were divine, for example
  14. > music tones should be perfect ratios.  Something that is rational (i.e. sensical
  15. > can be divided up into manageable bits (rationed), whereas something irrational
  16. > cannot be cut up and so is perverse.
  17. > Terry
  18.  
  19. As you noted, ``irrational'' also means ``lacking a ratio,'' that is,
  20. having no representation as a ratio of integers.  Quite so.
  21.  
  22. Brian Clausing
  23.