Hey all!I’m back with my next poem, titled “Numerical Stew”. This isn’t meant for maths lovers or mathematical students, rather, it’s a simplified and fun(I hope so) way to explain the evolution of the number system that we all know and use in our daily lives 😉 Enjoy!

Maths is fun,
Full of riddles,
You can enjoy,
Play and piddle.

But what truly drives
The mathematical brain?
The base of “Calculations”,
Done with such pain?

I present you numbers,
The gears at play,
That help us think
The mathematical way.

First came the numbers
One,two and three;
Then four,five and six,
Oh my!I’m on a spree!

These cute ‘lil babies
Were named “Naturals”,
Kept by the then math idols.
Although not mathematical.

But then came our friend,
Aryabhatta of Pataliputra,
Presented us with “Zero,
Thus began a new era.

So where was this placed?
Hence created a new line
Of numbers, named “Whole”,
A solution just fine!

But a bit while later,
The world was awestruck,
For there arrived a legend
Who left us dumbstruck!

The number line required
Some serious upgrades,
For a new problem arose
When integers were made.

If you’ve a couple bucks,
And promise one three,
How best can ye solve
This wee difficulty?

And so was offered
A wondrous way out,
A system of negatives,
A marvel,without doubt!

So the number line went
Both left and right;
So mathematicians began
To see the light.

Ah, I wish it stopped there,
But more trouble pounced!
Once more, the big shots
Were utterly trounced.

If you’ve a cake,
And four friends await
Their rightful share,
Be there an answer straight?

The numbers needed tweaking,
And so arose fractions!
With numerators and denominators,
Our temporary salvation.

Decimals, the next step
In some maintenance done,
The world happy once more,
Mathematicians had won.

Not long after dawned
A legend who confounded
Pythagoras himself,
With a problem profound.

What’s the square root
Of the number two?
They worked and worked,
And landed in stew!

The answer ne’er ended,
The digits kept stacking!
Once more, our maths
Received a spanking.

Irrationals, as they’re called,
Can’t be expressed
In a fractional form,
As caused distress.

Although Hippasus drowned
For his unfortunate discovery,
Of the transcendental troubles,
They ne’er shook free.

These numbers ne’er could
Appear as answers
To problems of logic,
A spot of bother.

Transcendental numbers,
That’s what they’re called.
Left many a professor
Utterly appalled.

So here we are now,
At the very end;
With a bunch of brains
Torn and rent.

These little results
Were grouped with others
To form the set
Of real numbers.

And so I conclude,
With a sigh and a phew,
For having got out
Of the numerical stew!

-The Forgers of Fantasy

P.S: I’m sorry if it’s a bit lengthy 😅 but well, its such a long story!

P.P.S: This is the third poem written, as part of my series of poems on different branches of mathematics. You can look them up here:

https://theforgersoffantasy.art.blog/2021/08/23/a-greenhorns-introduction-to-lord-trigonometry/

https://theforgersoffantasy.art.blog/2021/08/24/a-greenhorns-guide-to-lord-calculus-the-cataclysmic/

For more such poems,refer The Forgers of Fantasy