Approachable Math

Out of the shadows of the distant past, I see a tall, lean professor standing in a dark lecture room talking about differential equations and tensors. His hair is short and gray but has a whimsy wisp to it. His voice is calm and just a little bit raspy. You could imagine him speaking to you over a cup of coffee.

As he talks about the math, he also talks about the mathematicians, and when he does, his eyes light up.

Maupertuis, he says, drawing out the first and last syllables, savoring the 'r' in the middle.

Eudoxus, he proclaims, emphasizing the 'x' as if it's a prize worth holding up for all to see.

In the shadows between the stacks, walking the marble floors of the math library with my backpack sitting on a sill behind me, I found an amazing book. The Variational Principles of Mechanics, where it was all laid out in words before the mathematics began to fly. What a strange thing, I thought, that this could be so approachable.

And then there were those classes, with Professor Ray Langebartel's flashing eyes and his floating hair[*], and the names of great mathematicians pronounced as profound truths so loudly that they linger in my mind even now. What a strange thing, that he could make it so approachable.

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University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign, ca. 1980.

[*] weave a circle 'round him thrice!

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