WERE Roman numerals invented by Tony Soprano? When will the number 11 stop sulking in its room? And what might the square root of minus five bananas be? The world of language and mathematics collide in one of the most fascinating and hugely enjoyabl
e collections of poetry published in Scotland for many years.
"Maths is full of weird and wonderful stories and people," explains Prestonpans poet Brian McCabe, talking about his new collection of poetry, Zero. "The ancient Incas used knots in coloured thread to record numbers, John Lennon's favourite number was nine, Sophie Germain pretended to be a man to study maths. People have even been murdered because of maths!"
As a poet, writer, teacher and editor, Brian is aware of Edinburgh's literary heritage and status as a UNESCO City of Literature but he points out that it's also a city of numbers.
"Two of the city's universities commemorate men of maths," he says. "One half of Heriot-Watt is James Watt, the engineer who revolutionised the steam engine. And Edinburgh Napier University is named after John Napier the mathematician. He pretended to be in league with the Devil to scare his servants.
"There's an Edinburgh Mathematical Society, founded in 1883 and still going strong, and one of Edinburgh's newest statues on George Street is of physicist James Clerk Maxwell. Einstein was a fan of his and kept a picture of him on his study wall."
But Zero isn't just about the great and good of maths. If you've ever wondered why those green bottles fell off that wall or why all those men went to mow that meadow and why they left one by one, the entertaining poems in Zero will help. Whichever way you divide it, it all adds up to 100 per cent more fun than double maths!
The full article contains 319 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
