Piet Hein's "Grooks"

[Skeptic]

Piet Hein (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Hein_(Denmark)) was a polymath: a mathematician, a game inventor, and above all a composer of witty poems he called "grooks". He's out of print in English, I believe, but if you can find him, grab it. Here are a few from memory:

Problems worthy of attack
prove their worth by hitting back.

A Grook to Warn the Universe Against Megalomania
The universe may
be as grand as they say
but it wouldn't be missed
if it didn't exist.

Revelation at midnight
Infinity is, it's known far and wide
the number eight lying on its side.
But all of a sudden
I now comprehend
that eight is infinity
standing on end.

Does time exist?
I gravely doubt it.
But gosh, what would we do without it?

[Aardvark_DK]

And he came up with the Superellipse that was used for this very nice table (http://www.fritzhansen.com/products.asp?lang=uk&productid=40).

[phildonnia]

Amazingly, despite the clever wordplay and "feminine rhyme", most of these are actually translations from Dutch.

If you like this stuff, you may also like Ogden Nash (http://www.westegg.com/nash/turtle.html).

[Aardvark_DK]

Originally posted by phildonnia
most of these are actually translations from Dutch.
*cough* Danish *cough*

[Ladewig]

I give up. What is a supercircular table?

[Aardvark_DK]

A superellipse is basically a mixture of an ellipse and a rectangle. Or something like that.

[phildonnia]

Originally posted by Aardvark_DK

*cough* Danish *cough*

I've been coughed on. :hit: Database has ben repaired.

[Aardvark_DK]

Originally posted by phildonnia
I've been coughed on. :hit: Database has ben repaired.
But there's a chance you now have the bubonic plague.