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 |    Not for the faint of art. |
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Complex Numbers A complex number is expressed in the standard form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and i is defined by i^2 = -1 (that is, i is the square root of -1). For example, 3 + 2i is a complex number. The bi term is often referred to as an imaginary number (though this may be misleading, as it is no more "imaginary" than the symbolic abstractions we know as the "real" numbers). Thus, every complex number has a real part, a, and an imaginary part, bi. Complex numbers are often represented on a graph known as the "complex plane," where the horizontal axis represents the infinity of real numbers, and the vertical axis represents the infinity of imaginary numbers. Thus, each complex number has a unique representation on the complex plane: some closer to real; others, more imaginary. If a = b, the number is equal parts real and imaginary. Very simple transformations applied to numbers in the complex plane can lead to fractal structures of enormous intricacy and astonishing beauty. ![Merit Badge in Quill Award
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Congratulations on winning an honorable mention for Best Blog at the 2018 Quill Awards for [Link To Item #1196512] . *^*Smile*^* This award was sponsored by the blogging consortium including [Link To Item #30dbc] , [Link To Item #blogcity] , [Link To Item #bcof] and [Link To Item #1953629] . For more details, see [Link To Item #quills] .](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/type-Blogging-2180.gif) ![Merit Badge in Highly Recommended
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I highly recommend your blog.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/Kudos-Highly_Recommended.gif) ![Merit Badge in Opinion
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For your awesome Klingon Bloodwine recipe from [Link to Book Entry #1016079] that deserves to be on the topmost shelf at Quark's.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Quarks_Bar-2046190_12.gif)       |
| I want to talk about this article, but I don't want to get too bogged down. The Hidden and Eternal Spirit of the Great Dismal Swamp  For nearly all of its modern existence, the Great Dismal Swamp has been excluded from U.S. history. Now there’s a push to bring its significance to light—and it’s revealing what really goes into remembering the truths of our ancestors. This swamp is in my state (and also extends into North Carolina), and I've been there. It may not be as famous as the Everglades, but it's pretty cool in its own way. For one thing, it contains one of only two lakes in Virginia that were not formed by human-built dams. That said, the article's author apparently subscribes to the New Yorker school of rambling prose. It irritates me. For example, the lede: By a quarter past eight, the woods were bright and humming, and the summer heat had rolled in off Route 17. The early August air was soft and humid by the canal on the eastern side of the Great Dismal Swamp’s Virginia half. The bikers, the joggers, the hikers, the bird-watchers, and the couple loading up their dusty SUV each chimed “morning” one after another, all cradling the letter m at the roofs of their mouths. Honestly, normally I'd Stop Reading Right There. Too many linking verbs, and that last sentence is just so fucking precious. But as I said, the subject matter interests me. I've been to the Great Dismal, even hiked a ways into it. The article starts out with some of its history, especially as it relates to slavery when there was still slavery there. Then... Since the beginning of the 20th century, protection of the Dismal has been framed as an environmental issue. After 200 years of heavy logging left the territory at less than a third of its original size, the Union Camp Corporation gifted the swamp to the U.S. government in 1973. And honestly, it is an environmental issue. For a long time, swampland was considered a nuisance, something to be "drained" or "filled" or "reclaimed." But of course swamps (honestly, I'm a bit vague on the differences between swamps, marshes, bogs, etc., so I'm using "swamp" generically) are wetlands, and hopefully I don't need to explain just how vital wetlands are in ecology. All of which is interesting enough, but I already knew that. What this article does is delve into the human history of the place. It's long, but again, I think this is stuff that needs to be more in our consciousness. And be warned: some of it is quite graphic. Still, some of the photography is very striking. |
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