As mariner is wont to do, he fills empty time exploring the world of abstruse subjects. If one wants to get lost in a giant maze with no exit, check out quantum mechanics; or perhaps the process by which ions chase each other around to manage human bodies – all the pictures look like my granddaughter’s bead bracelets. In mathematics, there is a popular puzzle that asks for the shortest path to visit all the stops in an extended trip. Don’t try it, you’ll miss your flight.

A recent article about knot mathematics stirred his interest. He didn’t know a person had to know equations to tie knots. He was a Boy Scout and remembers learning to tie a dozen or so knots that made using knots a handy tool. He ties his shoes and dress ties – except bow ties; he uses the well known square knot and its petulant brother the granny knot for just about everything else. The bowline knot is supposed to never slip. The only use he had for it was as an emergency dog leash. Mariner remembers his grandmother tying a magic knot on a piece of thread just by rubbing two fingers together – voila! a sturdy knot to sew buttons.

It turns out that ‘knot theory’ is an important part of the science of topology – how stuff aggregates and disseminates. For example, when looking at a knot, is it just another example of that same knot somewhere else or is it truly a genuine one-of-a-kind knot? Knot tying is important to the study of things like DNA, chemical reactions and astronomic physics.

Mariner is in knots trying to figure out how to end this post so the reader can finish it at:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-knot-theory-discovery-overturns-long-held-mathematical-assumption/?_kx=HnWBlzyruBWdZk8zZJGqG9mGrSNMZd2cfq-kdkdOWgOqhVgSL-mWKHsx1HZSrrCW.WEer5A

Ancient Mariner