07 JUN 2012 by ideonexus

 Unweave a Rainbow

Do not all charms fly At the mere touch of cold philosophy? There was an awful rainbow once in heaven: We know her woof, her texture; she is given In the dull catalogue of common things. Philosophy will clip an Angel's wings, Conquer all mysteries by rule and line, Empty the haunted air, and gnomed mine Unweave a rainbow.
Folksonomies: science wonder
Folksonomies: science wonder
  1  notes

Poem about how science robs life of wonder.

18 MAY 2012 by ideonexus

 Averages are Boring

The Charms of Statistics.—It is difficult to understand why statisticians commonly limit their inquiries to Averages, and do not revel in more comprehensive views. Their souls seem as dull to the charm of variety as that of the native of one of our flat English counties, whose retrospect of Switzerland was that, if its mountains could be thrown into its lakes, two nuisances would be got rid of at once. An Average is but a solitary fact, whereas if a single other fact be added to it, an enti...
Folksonomies: statistics
Folksonomies: statistics
  1  notes

Statisticians should be interested in more complex and beautiful things.

02 JAN 2012 by ideonexus

 Keats Against "Cold Philosophy"

...Do not all charms fly At the mere touch of cold philosophy? There was an awful rainbow once in heaven: We know her woof, her texture; she is given In the dull catalogue of common things. Philosophy will clip an Angel’s wings, Conquer all mysteries by rule and line, Empty the haunted air, and gnomed mine - Unweave a rainbow, as it erewhile made The tender-person’d Lamia melt into a shade.
  1  notes

An anti-science passage from the poem "Lamia."