Search where?

This Portfolio (cathartes02)

All of Writing.Com

◄ May ► 2019
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31
Archive				RSS

Offsite Blogs

· Waltz Travel Blog

Create New Item

Read & Review

Community

Browse By Type

Browse By Genre

Writing Resources

Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024

4:11pm EST

Members: 1,013

Guests: 4,026

Total Online: 5,039

Complex Numbers

by Robert Waltz

Rated: 18+ · Book · Personal · #1196512

Not for the faint of art.

Complex Numbers

A complex number is expressed in the standard form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and i is defined by i^2 = -1 (that is, i is the square root of -1). For example, 3 + 2i is a complex number.

The bi term is often referred to as an imaginary number (though this may be misleading, as it is no more "imaginary" than the symbolic abstractions we know as the "real" numbers). Thus, every complex number has a real part, a, and an imaginary part, bi.

Complex numbers are often represented on a graph known as the "complex plane," where the horizontal axis represents the infinity of real numbers, and the vertical axis represents the infinity of imaginary numbers. Thus, each complex number has a unique representation on the complex plane: some closer to real; others, more imaginary. If a = b, the number is equal parts real and imaginary.

Very simple transformations applied to numbers in the complex plane can lead to fractal structures of enormous intricacy and astonishing beauty.

http://www.ddewey.net/mandelbrot/

Signature for Honorable Mentions in 2018 Quill Awards

A signature for exclusive use of winners at the 2019 Quill Awards

Signature for those who have won a Quill Award at the 2020 Quill Awards

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Kåre เลียม Enga

a day ago
In response to "It Was a Dark and Starry Night"

Ah... but why did he see those swirls when many of us don't? A totally different discussion... out of thin air... which is a frozen fog today when I gaze out the window.

Humans have great skills of observation; some of us extraordinary skills. Is The Scream depictive or evocative? 😱

Turkey DrumStik

a day ago
In response to "It Was a Dark and Starry Night"

Frankly, I'm more surprised to see reasonably good reporting from CNN. I'd given up on their ability to rein in their tendency toward loaded speech.

2 Like

JayNaNoOhNo

Nov 8, 2024 at 12:00pm
In response to "Bungalow Bash"

For the love of God, what did I just read? That is by far the worst use case of a bungalow I've ever seen, and a fundamental misunderstanding of the value of front porches—and the size of bungalows.

Was this his point? Nope, I know what his point was. For a guy so worried about presentation, he certainly undercut his own arguement.

1 Like

Turkey DrumStik

Nov 8, 2024 at 9:47am
In response to "Bungalow Bash"

"People don't change their minds on the internet. They usually do that in books, battlefields, or not at all.

Yeah, that's a little bleak."

Bleak and also inaccurate.

1 Like

Kåre เลียม Enga

Nov 7, 2024 at 10:19pm
In response to "Past and Future Intents"

I must live in the present. In the past I daydreamed a lot... probably to escape the bruises of reality; however, I need to be more aware crossing streets or even how I get out of bed (no rapid movements without thinking of consequences).

I can envision a future more peaceful than the present because this time-and-place isn't the only "present" that's ever existed, and I do try to see the larger view (emphasis on 'try').

1 Like

Lilli 🧿 ☕

Nov 7, 2024 at 10:58am
In response to "Past and Future Intents"

If the aforementioned exercises don't help; there's still liquor.

3 Like

Turkey DrumStik

Nov 6, 2024 at 10:22am
In response to "Lo!"

Not gonna lie I need the holiday season chatter.

Aiva Raine

Nov 5, 2024 at 3:03pm
In response to "It's Hard Not To Scare"

Shaking head. Aside from the inevitable Simpson's spider goat song playing in my head which I will now share with you below, whenever I come across a story that has all these scientists doing ridiculous experiments for no logical reason, I must go- ah- scientists- CANCER? You do remember that problem right? Can we maybe cure that before we make cockroaches magnetic and elephants see pink elephants?

spider pig clip- and if you all now are singing the spider goat song- you're welcome! grin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BARjPuUN36Y

1 Like

Aiva Raine

Nov 5, 2024 at 2:55pm
In response to "Anomalies"

One of your more humorous entries- I especially enjoyed- "Lofoten Vortex can be the name of my Bjork cover band."

Thanks for the laughs. Much appreciated.

2 Like

JayNaNoOhNo

Nov 5, 2024 at 1:16pm
In response to "Anomalies"

*Toronto, Canada submits a sternly-worded petition and disputes the center of the universe claim.*

2 Like

May 8, 2019 at 12:08am

#958501

In Space, No One Can Watch You Drink

In the future, if space travel became possible, would you want to go? What would most influence your decision whether or not to leave Earth?

If you'd asked me that when I was 15, my answer would have been, "Hell yeah, sign me up."

At that time, I had every reason to believe it was not only possible, but inevitable. For fuck's sake, we'd just lofted people to the goddamn moon. Certainly, Mars would be next, then maybe a generation ship to the Alpha Centauri system or some such science fiction trope. And I desperately wanted to be involved.

What took me by surprise was that we spent all the time since then never leaving Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Oh, I know there are reasons for this: political and financial costs, greater awareness of the effects it would have on a human body to leave the safety of our natural radiation shield, whatever. And I guess I should be glad we didn't abandon even that, but we could have done so much more, especially as technology advanced.

We went to the moon using little more than a slide rule. It would be another ten years before you could stuff a real computer into a spaceship. Whatever you're using to read this, laptop or desktop or tablet or mobile phone, has orders of magnitude more computing power than Collins, Aldrin and Armstrong had access to.

We've done other stuff, of course. We populated Mars with robots, and sent probes throughout the solar system and beyond, and that's all very cool. Nothing like boots on the ground, though - or floating in a capsule.

But I digress. I tend to do that when we're talking about space exploration. I'm convinced that Western civilization hit its peak on or about July 20, 1969, and we've been on a downhill slide ever since. But that could be age talking; I don't know.

I've heard all the arguments against space exploration, and I summarily reject all of them.

Now? Well, now I realize that there's no beer in space. Oh, I'm fully aware that astronomers have identified entire clouds of ethanol out there. Not the same thing, though. You'd also have to find barley, hops, and yeast, and there are plenty of those things right here on Earth. To go the rest of my life without beer? You couldn't pay me enough.

Happy to sit back and watch other people endure the trips, though. Go for it.

7 Like • Comment • View 8 comments

© Copyright 2024 Robert Waltz (UN: cathartes02 at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Robert Waltz has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.

Printed from https://writing.com/main/profile/blog/cathartes02/day/5-8-2019