The search for beauty

There was a recent article on the BBC News website talking about the relationship between mathematics and beauty (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26151062). It talks generally about the fact that seeing certain mathematical functions and expressions can elicit similar brain functions to looking at artistic masterpieces. It got me thinking about the notion of beauty and things that are beautiful.

The BBC article mentions one equation in particular, and I have to admit it is something I have found to be "beautiful" in past - though I might not have used that term. Euler's identity perfectly relates five of the most fundamental mathematical constants (0, 1 e, i and π) and three of the basic arithmetic operations (addition, multiplication and exponentiation.

Euler's Identity

I remember the first time I ever "got" this equation, the first time I ever understood the dichotomy of it. It is so simple to look at yet it is both fundamental to mathematics and highly complex in its own way. I was stunned by it, I wanted to know more about it and, yes, it made me instinctively smile .

To me THAT is what finding beauty is about. It is about seeing, hearing, touching, tasting or smelling something which elicits those raw emotions. Beautiful things stop you in your tracks, they fundamentally change the way you think about things and they make you smile uncontrollably. It is not a superficial thing at all but a much more primal and instinctive reaction.

One of the best things about this world is how much there is out there which has the potential to do those things to us. We shouldn't be striving for possessions or power but rather searching for those moments, those sensations of awe and wonder which we all have the capacity to feel. They don't cost anything to feel and they transcend all barriers. 

And beauty is different for every single one of us, that is what make life so interesting and so full of variety. So get out there and keep your senses open. Don't close your mind to anything and just be alert for those moments that take your breath away, they can come in so many different forms. And when they do come, appreciate them for everything they are. 

Today's #randomfactoftheday - In humans the X-chromosome is 53mm long and contains 155,270,560 base pairs compared with the Y-chromosome at 20mm and 59,373,566 base pairs.

Today's #badjokeoftheday - Q: Why is it hard to explain puns to kleptomaniacs? A: Because they always take things literally.

Today's #websiteoftheday - Some of the many silly World Championships you can find in Finland (http://www.visitfinland.com/article/the_silliest_events_in_finland/)

On this day: 1971, Decimal Day - the decimalisation of the British coinage is completed

Till next time,

DT