Numbers are our friends

Numbers are our friends. For a start they are indispensable in arithmetic and music. They represent, among other things, accuracy, planning, rhythm, consensus, exactness, discipline, swing, contour, proportion and dimension. Can you think of more?

Composers of music and art rely on numbers. So do engineers, architects, chefs and mathematicians. A child's first lessons inevitably include counting.

Can numbers boss us around? Or does their natural limitlessness empower us?

Adam Dickey once penned a now-famous article called Possession* (see The Christian Science Journal June 1917) in which he points out the absurdity of anyone person or nation owning the multiplication table or any particular number. He writes: 'Let us suppose ... that the figures used in making calculations, instead of being accepted as thoughts, were regarded as material objects. In such a case every mathematician or accountant would have to provide himself with a supply of figures, which would perhaps be made of some durable material like wood or iron, and which he would keep on a shelf or locked in a drawer.'

Then there are the numbers we associate with time and age. Setting a time for the train to depart or the meeting to start is a kind thing to do. And I like what Australian writer Neil Millar has to say about age in his story 'Poet Lurking' (see Shards of Light p, 33):

'No man can outgrow his own youth, either, however much he concerns himself with his age -- which is a very youthful thing to do.'

And so, we launch into reading the Old Testament book of Numbers in this merry month of May.

Happy reading everyone.

Julie Swannell

*Call the Reading Room if you would like to order a copy of this article.