Silhouette and Vortices - Through the Mathemalchemy Looking Glass

Silhouette & Vortices

Through the Mathemalchemy Looking Glass

“Oma, when I look up in that direction, through my eyelashes between half-closed eyelids, I can see some huge shadow there, against the sky. Can you see it too? Do you know what it is?”

“I wondered whether you could see it — sometimes you become very still when you look in that direction, peering up. Not everyone can see them, you know. I still remember when I first saw one of them, as a little girl myself. Yes, there are more than one — three in fact. Or three that I know of, anyway. In the sky above Integral Hill, there is another one, and also on top of Stack-of-Books.”

“What are they, Oma?”

“We don’t really know, dear. As one of our philosophers put it, ‘It is not clear whether these shadowy, other-dimensional silhouettes bordering Mathemalchemy are part of this world, or are observing us from some other realm. Some hold that they may be the generators of our world, that they imagine and dream our existence into being. Others think they are reflections of ourselves, as we discover, invent, and surf the intricate and ever-evolving vortices and vertices of our realm.’”

“Wow. Why ‘other-dimensional?’”

“If you walk in a big curve that has one of them more or less at its center, then they seem to disappear in certain directions, and gradually fatten up again as you walk further. A bit as if they were 2-dimensional, as you know the Lighthouse Keepers can do at will, and OctoPi can make herself be, sometimes. But it is hard to believe they are just 2-dimensional; so maybe they have other dimensions we just cannot perceive.”

“Do they have a name?”

“Yes. They are called the Mathematicians. “

How nice — another one of the little critters has become aware of Us. I hope this will encourage her to start looking more closely at the world around her and see the mathematical beauty surrounding her, everywhere.
The Mathematician