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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.
September 24, 2024 at 9:03am September 24, 2024 at 9:03am
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So, yeah, I didn't go to the Louvre yesterday.
Look. I'm not a young man of 55 anymore. Sometimes, my knee hurts. Yesterday was one of those times, because I'd spent the last two days hiking around Paris.
Paris was never the purpose of my trip. I agreed to three days there because I figured I could use the time to get over any jet lag, and see firsthand how bad my French pronunciation is [Narrator: vraiment très mauvais], and also to meet my new friend there. No, the purpose of the trip was wine tasting in the countryside, and beer drinking in Belgium later.
If I'd gone to the Louvre, that would have been more walking and standing and stopping and staring. I would have liked to have seen some of the art, of course. But not the Mona Lisa. There's only one reason to see the Mona Lisa, and that's to be able to brag that you've seen it, while complaining about how small it is and how crowded with tourists the room is. The obvious hypocrisy there is that you're contributing to said crowds.
I can skip the seeing it bit and accept the information that the painting is surprisingly small and the room is extremely crowded.
Besides, if I can't paint a mustache on it, what's the point?
So, in an effort to preserve my walking ability for the really important stuff (chateaux and wineries and such), I kept things pretty low-key yesterday while my knee recovered. But I did get a bit of walking in. For instance:
Remember how I said most French beer is ass, except for some breweries in the east? One of those breweries produces a lager called 1664. It's a fairly large brewery that exports, so we get bottles back home. I've heard it's pretty popular in England, too. I buy it to drink when I want a lager, because it's a better alternative for that style than the pisswater the big names try to pass off as lager. Anyway, I found it on tap at a restaurant near the hotel, so of course I ordered one, and it was even more delicious than the bottled and exported version.
And also, if I'd wasted the day at the Louvre, I never would have encountered this delightful example of street art:
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