Poetry and Mathematics.
It is often the case that greats mathematical minds are incapable of appreciating poetry. There was once a mathematical tut'jr in one of our great universities who was in the habit of boasting thab he neither knew nor cared to kuow anything about poets or poetry, and considered it all "a lot of unpractical rot." A certain brother tutor was very anxious to convert him to the admiration of fine poetry, and by way of accomplishing this gave him the famous " Charge of the Light Brigade " to read. Tbe mathematician took it up and began to read aloud, thus .• "Half a league, half a league, half a league," then he banged the book down, exclaimiDg impatiently, "Well, if the fool meant a league and a-half, why on earth didn't he say so ? "
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Bibliographic details
Otago Witness, Issue 2250, 15 April 1897, Page 52
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135Poetry and Mathematics. Otago Witness, Issue 2250, 15 April 1897, Page 52
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