Comments on: The What is WHAT Now???

By: Grant

Grant — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:17:45 +0000

Sorry TWO opposite rays

By: Grant

Grant — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:16:57 +0000

Regarding Cibu Bills comment #3 about straight lines. Straight lines are formed by to opposite rays. There is no such thing as a true straight line.

By: Kevin A

Kevin A — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:25:40 +0000

@CIDU Bill - Note this quote from the web page that you cited:
“A straight angle is an angle that measures exactly 180 degrees. Thus the name - the two rays form a straight line.”
Of course, it’s now 7 months later and the words “form a straight line” may have been added to this particular site since then.

Geometry has to have theorems (or definitions, if that’s what this one is) like the one Heart was reading, no matter how intuitive they are, in order to build construction proofs.

In Geometry, a “straight line” extends infinitely in 2 directions. A straight line cannot be constructed nor defined without rays because it needs, at minimum, a particular point and direction, and that is a ray. A straight line has no point more defining than any other point on it; a “straight line” is “described” by a point and one of its two directions (or by 2 points).

The thing drawn between 2 points is a “straight line segment”, and is not related to Heart’s quote. It’s an unfortunate aspect of English and other languages that a new word wasn’t created for “straight line” since we mostly deal with “straight line segments” in our life, and isn’t that phrase too long for something so common? (And isn’t life too short to keep track of which of your friends are math geeks when having a dinner conversation?)

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I’m not sure about whether this should be called a “Math Fact”. And I agree with others here that the statement is sort of backwards (and I’m not referring to the complex grammar).

By: Matthew

Matthew — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 01:08:31 +0000

That’s the last line of a short story by Guy Davenport, Mark, and it’s an A-B-B-A quatrain:

No force on Earth, however great,
Can stretch a cord, however fine,
Into a horizontal line,
That shall be absolutely straight.

By: Mark in Boston

Mark in Boston — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:25:13 +0000

“No force on earth, however great, can stretch a cord, however fine, into a horizontal line that shall be absolutely straight.” — Whewell.

By: ty

ty — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:59:54 +0000

For a variation on the “math is hard” joke, check out this sunday’s Foxtrot. (Not that it’s a new one - I first heard it in a British schoolroom comedy from the early 70’s. The Vinnie Bobarino-type character couldn’t figure out a simple math problem, but could rattle off the odds and pay-out at the track. Context is verything.)

By: Jeff S.

Jeff S. — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:35:01 +0000

If this were Foxtrot, we would KNOW the math is correct! But of course, Jason wouldn’t deliver the same punchline, as he loves math.

By: Joss

Joss — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:22:34 +0000

Wow, this strip has stirred up the most comments in quite a while.

By: Rainey

Rainey — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 23:28:48 +0000

@Lindsay: I think the reason that the artist chose to have a girl deliver the line about too much math not being a good thing has more to do with this girl being the main character of the strip than with any “girls are bad at math” mentality.

By: This guy I know

This guy I know — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 20:28:58 +0000

@ Brent:
And 360 degrees is one pie.

…but one pie is two pi. So even if I take a whole pi, there is still some pie remaining. Thus there is always enough pie for everyone.