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Complex Numbers
Complex Numbers
A complex number is expressed in the standard form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and i is defined by i^2 = -1 (that is, i is the square root of -1). For example, 3 + 2i is a complex number.
The bi term is often referred to as an imaginary number (though this may be misleading, as it is no more "imaginary" than the symbolic abstractions we know as the "real" numbers). Thus, every complex number has a real part, a, and an imaginary part, bi.
Complex numbers are often represented on a graph known as the "complex plane," where the horizontal axis represents the infinity of real numbers, and the vertical axis represents the infinity of imaginary numbers. Thus, each complex number has a unique representation on the complex plane: some closer to real; others, more imaginary. If a = b, the number is equal parts real and imaginary.
Very simple transformations applied to numbers in the complex plane can lead to fractal structures of enormous intricacy and astonishing beauty.
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Wrapping up another month in the relentless march to our individual and collective doom. As it is Sunday, I wanted to pull out a past entry and take another look at it.
As I've noted before, I don't take anything from the past year for revisiting. Today, though, cuts it pretty close; it's an entry from April 11 of last year: "Asking Persimmon" 
Since it's so recent, not much has changed. The link, to an Atlas Obscura article, still works.
I made my perennial complaint about the inconsistency of labeling delicious fermented beverages:
In general, beer is fermented grain, while wine is fermented fruit. However, exceptions abound. Cider, usually from apples or pears, is its own category. Japanese sake is most often known as "rice wine" in English, probably because its alcohol content is higher than most beer and it's generally not bubbly. For example. So if someone wants to call this "persimmon beer," well, they don't need my permission.
Well, it's not a complaint, exactly. Just an observation. In the end, though, it doesn't matter all that much, as long as you pretty much know what you're drinking. That is, don't make a sparkling plum wine and call it peach beer. Or whatever. I had a mead yesterday that was also somehow categorized as beer because, it seems, there were grains somewhere in the brewing process. My understanding is that, to be called mead, most of its fermentation product has to come from honey—kind of like something has to be 51% de agave (and from a particular region) to be called tequila.
What I'm getting at is, as with many things such as mountains/hills and planets/dwarf planets, sometimes you run into a categorization issue. I'm mostly mentioning this stuff again because, from the article and my quote thereof, there's something that I apparently didn't bother talking about:
...fermenting Diospyros virginiana, the diminutive North American persimmon, with sugar, honey, and yeast...
So what I'm not real clear on is how much of the fermentation product is from persimmon, sugar, or honey. Persimmon seems to have enough sugars in it by itself for fermentation; I'd imagine the sugar and honey were about flavor. I highly doubt the ratio of those ingredients was consistent, though.
Probably doesn't matter. The story remains the same, and it's still just as interesting as it was last year when I linked it, or the year before when the article came out. |
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