Fw: TR little backtrack to Pt 2, C1, p301

[Mark Kohut]

Seems Yahoo switches me back to RICH TEXT...
 
so, must resend and switch to plain text for every post.
 
Sorry.
 
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com>
To: pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2011 6:40 PM
Subject: TR little backtrack to Pt 2, C1, p301


"by a deity whose symbol is the square root of minus one" ....in which this subject and
mathematician Hamilton come up as they do in Against the Day.

Greek ι (see alternative notations). Although its precise definition varies, the imaginary unit's core property is that i 2 = −1. The term "imaginary" is used because there is no real number having a square that is negative. 
There are in fact two square roots of −1, namely i and − i, just as there are two square roots of every other real number, except zero, which has one double square root.

For Kai---When we reread Against the Day, I will argue that TRP believes in basic math, natural, REAL but uses imaginary 
numbers as another internal metaphor for the derangements of modernity........