Subject
Fw: Fw: IPH solution? (Pale Pire) (cont.)
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EDNOTE. Yeh, the "pale pire" in the subject line was my typo. For a series
of ingenious transformations of the title PALE FIRE, see Tom Bolt's long
poem DARK ICE on ZEMBLA. And Yes, my terminal EDNOTE was whimsy.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mary Krimmel" <mary@krimmel.net>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (58
lines) ------------------
> A couple of points:
>
> Is that Subject line in the heading a misprint for Pale Fire or for a pun
> Pale Pyre?
>
> Although Phi with Beta Kappa is "fie", as is phi in the American Heritage
> Dictionary, mathematicians just about universally say "fee", as I believe
> that Greeks do.
>
> Or is the EDNOTE "fie" intended only as another pun?
>
> The number as given in the book is 1.618, but I believe any mathematician
> and many others cringe at seeing this rational expression used instead of
> the more clearly irrational expression 1.618... The book (or the
characters
> in the book) give much other misinformation about the number Phi, and
quite
> possibly about other esoterica.
>
> Although a distinction is sometimes made between Phi and phi, to represent
> Phi and its inverse, I believe that the all-upper case PHI is not
generally
> used. Some character in the book, however, does point out the
pronunciation
> "fee".
>
> Mary Krimmel
>
> At 05:47 PM 7/17/03 -0700, you wrote:
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Carolyn Kunin" <chaiselongue@earthlink.net>
> >To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@listserv.ucsb.edu>
> >Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2003 9:36 AM
> >Subject: IPH solution?
> >
> >
> > >
> > > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (15
> >lines) ------------------
> > > To the List,
> > >
> > > I am reading a dreadful novel currently being pushed even on NPR
called
> >"The
> > > Da Vinci Code." The usual shlock-thriller with an intriguing twist for
> > > Nabokovians -- lots of information on de-coding (I did not know, for
> > > example, that anagrams were ever considered sacred, which the author
> > > claims).
> > >
> > > There is quite a bit about the golden mean and the Fibonacci numbers,
and
> >by
> > > chance, instead of writing the ratio 1.0821 (or whatever it is) as the
> >Greek
> > > letter Phi (as in Phi Beta Kappa), it is written PHI.
> > >
> > > I wonder iph ...
> > >
> > > Carolyn
> >------------------------------
> >EDNOTE. "PHI" (Fie) is not a bad response to Shade's "IPH" (Institute of
> >Preparation for the Hereafter."
>
>
of ingenious transformations of the title PALE FIRE, see Tom Bolt's long
poem DARK ICE on ZEMBLA. And Yes, my terminal EDNOTE was whimsy.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mary Krimmel" <mary@krimmel.net>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (58
lines) ------------------
> A couple of points:
>
> Is that Subject line in the heading a misprint for Pale Fire or for a pun
> Pale Pyre?
>
> Although Phi with Beta Kappa is "fie", as is phi in the American Heritage
> Dictionary, mathematicians just about universally say "fee", as I believe
> that Greeks do.
>
> Or is the EDNOTE "fie" intended only as another pun?
>
> The number as given in the book is 1.618, but I believe any mathematician
> and many others cringe at seeing this rational expression used instead of
> the more clearly irrational expression 1.618... The book (or the
characters
> in the book) give much other misinformation about the number Phi, and
quite
> possibly about other esoterica.
>
> Although a distinction is sometimes made between Phi and phi, to represent
> Phi and its inverse, I believe that the all-upper case PHI is not
generally
> used. Some character in the book, however, does point out the
pronunciation
> "fee".
>
> Mary Krimmel
>
> At 05:47 PM 7/17/03 -0700, you wrote:
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Carolyn Kunin" <chaiselongue@earthlink.net>
> >To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@listserv.ucsb.edu>
> >Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2003 9:36 AM
> >Subject: IPH solution?
> >
> >
> > >
> > > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (15
> >lines) ------------------
> > > To the List,
> > >
> > > I am reading a dreadful novel currently being pushed even on NPR
called
> >"The
> > > Da Vinci Code." The usual shlock-thriller with an intriguing twist for
> > > Nabokovians -- lots of information on de-coding (I did not know, for
> > > example, that anagrams were ever considered sacred, which the author
> > > claims).
> > >
> > > There is quite a bit about the golden mean and the Fibonacci numbers,
and
> >by
> > > chance, instead of writing the ratio 1.0821 (or whatever it is) as the
> >Greek
> > > letter Phi (as in Phi Beta Kappa), it is written PHI.
> > >
> > > I wonder iph ...
> > >
> > > Carolyn
> >------------------------------
> >EDNOTE. "PHI" (Fie) is not a bad response to Shade's "IPH" (Institute of
> >Preparation for the Hereafter."
>
>