Complex Numbers (Book)

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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.

http://www.ddewey.net/mandelbrot/

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Brandiwyn🎶

about 22 hours ago
In response to "Blond Man's Bluff"

That's interesting about the two spellings of blonde. I always thought blonde referred to the person and blond referred to the hair. But I never bothered to look it up, So you've catered to my lazy today.

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Kåre เลียม Enga

Nov 9, 2024 at 1:02pm
In response to "It Was a Dark and Starry Night"

Ah... but why did he see those swirls when many of us don't? A totally different discussion... out of thin air... which is a frozen fog today when I gaze out the window.

Humans have great skills of observation; some of us extraordinary skills. Is The Scream depictive or evocative? 😱

Turkey DrumStik

Nov 9, 2024 at 11:04am
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JayNaNoOhNo

Nov 8, 2024 at 12:00pm
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For the love of God, what did I just read? That is by far the worst use case of a bungalow I've ever seen, and a fundamental misunderstanding of the value of front porches—and the size of bungalows.

Was this his point? Nope, I know what his point was. For a guy so worried about presentation, he certainly undercut his own arguement.

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Turkey DrumStik

Nov 8, 2024 at 9:47am
In response to "Bungalow Bash"

"People don't change their minds on the internet. They usually do that in books, battlefields, or not at all.

Yeah, that's a little bleak."

Bleak and also inaccurate.

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Kåre เลียม Enga

Nov 7, 2024 at 10:19pm
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I must live in the present. In the past I daydreamed a lot... probably to escape the bruises of reality; however, I need to be more aware crossing streets or even how I get out of bed (no rapid movements without thinking of consequences).

I can envision a future more peaceful than the present because this time-and-place isn't the only "present" that's ever existed, and I do try to see the larger view (emphasis on 'try').

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Nov 7, 2024 at 10:58am
In response to "Past and Future Intents"

If the aforementioned exercises don't help; there's still liquor.

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Aiva Raine

Nov 5, 2024 at 3:03pm
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Shaking head. Aside from the inevitable Simpson's spider goat song playing in my head which I will now share with you below, whenever I come across a story that has all these scientists doing ridiculous experiments for no logical reason, I must go- ah- scientists- CANCER? You do remember that problem right? Can we maybe cure that before we make cockroaches magnetic and elephants see pink elephants?

spider pig clip- and if you all now are singing the spider goat song- you're welcome! grin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BARjPuUN36Y

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Aiva Raine

Nov 5, 2024 at 2:55pm
In response to "Anomalies"

One of your more humorous entries- I especially enjoyed- "Lofoten Vortex can be the name of my Bjork cover band."

Thanks for the laughs. Much appreciated.

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July 31, 2024 at 12:41pm

#1074612

Forgotten Food

From The Guardian, a British publication, we have an undisguised ad for a book about American food.

‘On the brink of extinction’: a food historian’s hunt for ingredients vanishing from US plates
In her new book, Endangered Eating, Sarah Lohman chronicles disappearing foods – and why they need protecting

I don't know... I feel like some foods are better off disappearing, such as everyone's favorite horror story: gelatin molds.

The American buff goose. Amish deer tongue lettuce. The Nancy Hall sweet potato. The mulefoot hog. When food historian Sarah Lohman stumbled on these fantastical-sounding ingredients in a database of vanishing foods called the Ark of Taste, she set off on a journey across the United States to discover more ingredients and traditions that had been abandoned in the annals of history.

Mind you, I think that keeping the knowledge around for the sake of history is a worthy project.

Lohman spoke to the Guardian about the cultural and political importance of these near-forgotten foods.

Like I said, it's a book promotion, and it's largely in interview form.

But endangered foods are the focus of Slow Food International’s work. They catalogue thousands of international and hundreds of national foods that are considered delicious, distinctive and worthy of protection.

I've been hearing references to Slow Food for a long time. It's almost always followed by the word "movement." Every time I hear it, every damn time, it sounds like constipation.

One major question we need to consider is: who should have access to these foods and at what price? I found people profiting off Indigenous foods, and other people profiting off Black American foodways, who weren’t of that culture and weren’t doing much to provide money or support the original caretakers of these plants.

Now, I don't generally accept the idea of food as cultural appropriation. One of the few benefits of living in our society is the ability to get food (and more importantly, beverage) from all over, and combine it in new and improved ways. But the sort of thing she's talking about there, yeah, I can see how that's appropriation, and inappropriate.

There's more to the article, of course, but I found it interesting enough to share, even if I can't be arsed to actually buy the book it's promoting.

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