The Elegant Commute
November 4, 2011
Brian Green, author of The Elegant Universe and expert in string theory, said tonight on the radio that math was one of the keys to understanding reality. Math teachers everywhere should go out and put that endorsement on t-shirts (or maybe that would just be sad). Why nobody told me that in high school is beyond me. Certainly it would have tempered the frustration of geometry and the mystery of algebra. And while I know that Mr. Green was certainly not referring to my morning commute, I had to chuckle about how math and “reality” work in my life these days. You see, I was never a confident math student even though I loved school. And even now, words are my speciality. But on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I become a math queen as my mind calculates and recalculates how to get three people to three places in the shortest amount of time (and on time) while maximizing sleep, minimizing distance, and limiting caffeine.
For example:
A car, leaving at 7:23 a.m. and traveling at an average speed of 25 mph must deliver Person A to Point A which is five miles away. At 7:25, a train unexpectedly blocks traffic for 3 minutes at the 1.5 mile mark. How fast must the car travel (if all 3 remaining traffic lights are green) to make it to Point A by 7:35? And how much time does that leave to deliver Person B to Point B (3 more miles)?
Sometimes, the math doesn’t add up. My car still doesn’t have turbo drive (Oh Knight Rider, if I could only borrow your car just once!), so I know that unless I want to risk the wrath of the JCPD, I won’t magically appear on time. No problem, just recalculate…if I park at the main building instead of my office, it will take me 45 seconds to walk to the classroom. Perhaps 30 if I’m not wearing those blasted high-heeled boots.
It’s no string theory (I’m not holding my breath for a NOVA miniseries), but it is a little slice of reality. In fact, I realized this week that I sort of enjoy it–shifting into 3rd gear (25 mph folks) around the curve on Market Street, knowing when to turn onto a side street or go for the light. And even though the days when the trains and school buses and red lights throw a wrench in my perfect route, that’s okay too. The reality of those days is precious, too.
