A Valentine's Tradition...?

(via Dave1185 at en.wikipedia)

It's Valentine's Day again and hey, I guess everybody loves a little warm-fuzzy…
Rather unexpectedly, the most highly-trafficked post I've ever done here was a Valentine's Day entry posted one year ago, simply linking to an older piece by English-major-turned-science-writer Jennifer Ouellette recounting her betrothal to Caltech physicist Sean Carroll.
So, I won't argue with success, and will link to it once again this Feb. 14. With any luck, and cooperation from Sean and Jennifer, maybe this will become a Math-Frolic tradition :-):

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cocktail-party-physics/2011/09/29/love-among-the-equations/

To get you in the mood, once again, an excerpt:

"It turns out that the world is filled with hidden connections, recurring patterns, and intricate details that can only be seen through math-colored glasses. Those abstract symbols hold meaning.  How could I ever have thought it was irrelevant?
"This is what I have learned from loving a physicist. Real math isn’t some cold, dead set of rules to be memorized and blindly followed. The act of devising a calculus problem from your observations of the world around you – and then solving it – is as much a creative endeavor as writing a novel or composing a symphony....
"As with mathematics, so with love. There are no hard and fast rules to be blindly followed, no matter what the self-help gurus may tell you. Sometimes you just need to take a Fourier transform of yourself, shatter the walls and break everything down into the component parts. Once you’ve analyzed the full spectrum, you can rebuild, this time with just the right mix of ingredients that will enable you finally to combine your waveform with that of another person."

Now doesn't THAT warm the cockles of your heart! So pass the Belgian chocolates...
But in case warm-fuzzy just isn't your style, I'll also re-run this short (15-min.) independent film, "The Calculus of Love," I've posted on the blog before:


THE CALCULUS OF LOVE from Dan Clifton on Vimeo.