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yokai-chili.bsky.social
@yokai-chili.bsky.social
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After reading Tennyson's 1842 poem 'The Vision of Sin', mathematician Charles Babbage wrote him this letter.
In your otherwise beautiful poem there is a verse that reads:“Every moment dies a man Every moment one is born.” It must be manifest that, were this true, the population of the world would be at a standstill. In truth the rate of birth is slightly in excess of that of death. I would suggest that in the next edition of your poem you have it read:“ Every moment dies a man. Every moment 1 1/16 is born”Strictly speaking this is not correct. The actual figure is a decimal so long that I cannot get it in the line, but I believe that 1 1/16 will be sufficiently accurate for poetry.
August 8, 2025 at 4:56 PM