17 May 2015

lemniscate

[lem-nis-kit, lem-nis-keyt, -kit]

noun

a closed plane curve consisting of two symmetrical loops meeting at a node. Equation: ( x ² + y ²)² = a ²( x ² – y ²), where a is the greatest distance from the curve to the origin.

The symbol for infinity (∞) is an example

dictionary.com

In algebraic geometry, a lemniscate is any of several figure-eight or ∞-shaped curves. The word comes from the Latin “lēmniscātus” meaning “decorated with ribbons”, which in turn may come from the ancient Greek island of Lemnos where ribbons were worn as decorations, or alternatively may refer to the wool from which the ribbons were made.

Wikipedia.com

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Today’s aphorism

Blessed are the weird people – the poets, misfits, writers, mystics, heretics, painters and troubadours – for they teach us to see the world through different eyes.

– Jacob Nordby

On this day

17 May 2000 – Thomas Blanton Jr and Bobby Frank Cherry, former Ku Klux Klan members, are arrested and charged with murder for the 1963 bombing of a church in Alabama which killed four girls. The two men were sentenced to life in prison.

17 May 2012 – Disco singer, Donna Summer dies from lung cancer. She was born on 31 December 1948.