Re: arabic number in bidi algorithm

From: John Cowan (cowan@ccil.org)
Date: Fri Oct 29 1999 - 09:33:09 EDT


Roozbeh Pournader wrote:

> > Doesn't sound much like Omar Khayyam to me.
>
> I'm sorry. I also love Omar Khayyam. But even Khayyam (also a
> mathematician did like this when not writing in ABJAD (written with
> letters, some way like Roman numerals in western world.)

I was referring to the quatrain which is translated:

        The moving ginger writes; and, having writ,
        Moves on: nor all your piety nor wit
        Shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
        Nor all your tears wash out a word of it.

(one of my favorites). My implication is that when the moving finger
writes numbers, it actually does have to backtrack! Omar as mathematician
was not in my mind at the time.

-- 

John Cowan http://www.reutershealth.com jcowan@reutershealth.com Schlingt dreifach einen Kreis vom dies / Schliess eurer Aug vor heiliger Schau Den er genoss vom Honig-Tau / Und trank die Milch vom Paradies. -- Coleridge (tr. Politzer)



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