Monday, March 2, 2015

The Sands of Time

Today is the birthday of Clifford Dowker born 1912 in Parkhill, Ontario. Dowker made contributions in the area of Knot Theory.

Today's quote is from Joseph Serret who said "Algebra is, properly speaking, is the Analysis of equations."





"Like the sands through the hourglass so are the days of our lives." Quoted by MacDonald Carey in the opening credits of 'Days of Our Lives.'

"Sand is pouring into a conical pile of sand, at the constant rate of 6 m^3/second. Suppose the side of the cone makes a 60° angle to the cone's base. How fast is the height of the sand pile changing when the volume of the cone is 180 m^3?"

"Oil is filling a cylindrical tank at a rate of 2 gallons/minute. If the radius of the tank is 2.5 ft, at what rate is the height changing when the tank half full?"

These are the problems that I was thinking of at a recent wedding that I attended. I sometimes lose my focus and start thinking of mathematics at inappropriate times. The couple was pouring sand into a container. The colors of the sand were blue and white. The pouring of sand replaced the tradition of the unity candle. Although the pouring of sand was a new wedding experience for me, I have found out it is not unique in wedding ceremonies.

During my son and my daughter-in-law's wedding, the parents of the couple lit the candles the groom and bride used to light the unity candle. I found that act a moving experience.

As I watched this couple pour each of their respective sands into a truncated cone (often called a tapered glass/i.e pint glass), I noticed that there were times in which one paused to let the other pour. The pause that allowed the other their moment of time, their moment to pour.  Within the wait and pour, a unique formation of sand was formed.

I believe in marriage, each partner is required to pause. Whether the pause is to allow the other a moment in the sun, a moment of respite, a moment of encouragement, or a moment of solitude. Such is marriage, a series of give and takes that is formed by each individual grain of sand, each waiting their turn, each supporting the other, and forming its unique beautiful structure.