HOME PAGE OF MICHAEL KEITH
EXPLORATIONS IN
Constrained Writing
Mathematics
Music
The Number π
Books Currently Available
Not A
Wake: A Dream Embodying
π's
Digits Fully for 10000 Decimals
A collection of short
stories, poetry, plays, puzzles, and other surprises, all
constructed according to the rigid rules of "Pilish", that peculiar
variant of English in which the number of letters in successive
words is required to follow the digits of the number
π
= 3.141592653..., in this case for a truly grand total of
10,000 decimals. The perfect book for fans of the number
π,
constrained writing, wordplay, puzzles, or experimental prose and
poetry.
Go here to read more about it or order a copy.
How many different musical chords, or scales, or rhythms, are there? This book addresses questions such as these using the tools of mathematical combinatorics. Go here to read more about it and access a PDF copy.
Constrained Writing
Liquid Metaphor
- A short story using the "heteroliteral" constraint.
Nine
Views of Mt. Fuji - A set of poems using several complex
constraints.
A Scrabble Tile Poem - using one complete set
of tiles per stanza.
Yes & No - A poem constrained by an item you use
'most every day.
The
Hydra - William
Blake's The Tyger + the Periodic Table = this.
The Wiser Writer and The Inane Reader
- A poem written entirely in alphametics.
Knotted Word Worms - A fiendishly difficult
constraint.
Texts Based On The Digits Of π
Writing in Pilish - An
introduction to our favorite writing constraint.
Bemused - a 218-digit poem in Basic Pilish.
Poe, E.: Near A Raven - Poe's "The Raven" in
Standard Pilish (740 digits).
The
π Play - A one-act play about Pilish written in Pilish (770
digits).
Cadaeic Cadenza - The world's second-longest English
π mnemonic (3835 digits).
Not A Wake - The current world record holder,
at 10,000 digits.
Cruel Unending Drama - Based on an acrostic
constraint.
Pieces of Centaurs - A 768-digit mnemonic for
the number 2π
= τ
(tau).
Accidental Pilish - Several nice
examples, including the current world record.
Pilish World Classics - Cover pictures from
some books in this imaginary series.
Anagrams
Anagrams Long
and Short - An introduction to the form, with examples.
Raven-Two - Poe's "The Raven"
rearranged, in 1999, into a Y2K-scare satire.
Anagram with an embedded portrait of Edgar
Allan Poe.
Autumn Aubades - Five anagram poems with
embedded cartoons.
Stars of the Seasons - Four anagrams with hidden
images of the night sky.
1,143,839,622,748,050,000,000,000,000 Sonnet
Anagrams
Pictographie - A triple anagram and
word-length mnemonic for
π,
e, and
φ.
Three-Way Anagram Crossword - in which Across
clues = Down clues = solution grid.
Palindromes
A page of
Original
Palindromes -
Poems, sentences, and more.
Edicide in Silopolis - A story about palindromy.
Bonus: my favorite palindromes.
Other Literary Topics
James Branch Cabell - All about an awesome American author.
The Number π
Geometric
Patterns of
π's Digits - in which
digits 763 to 768 play a
key role.
The π code - Read
the digits of π
as English text, and see the hidden
messages.
Lady
Pi - A fanciful image hidden in the binary digits of
π.
Special Numbers
Keith
Numbers -
They're all known up to 1029. Can you find the
next one?
Mari
Numbers - A
generalization of the above.
Maris-McGwire-Sosa
Numbers - Learn what's special about the pair (61, 62).
666, the Number of the Beast - An large collection of
mathematical facts about 666.
Repdigit Polygonal Numbers
- My paper from the
Journal of Integer Sequences.
All Numbers Are Interesting - A constructive demonstration.
Dottable Fractions - Expressions like 666/64676 =
6·6·6/6·46·76.
Wild Narcissistic Numbers - Numbers equal to strange
functions of their digits.
Some Integer Conjectures -
Mostly still unproven.
Prime Numbers
Primeval Numbers - Integers containing many embedded
primes.
Bowling
for Primes -
Yes, there is a connection!
Queens
attacking primes on Knight's Tours - a math puzzle on the chessboard.
Math and Music
The
Combinatorics of Musical Rhythm - See where Fibonacci comes into play.
Hear music composed by Conway's "Game of
Life".
Hailstone music - Generated by sequences related to the Collatz Conjecture.
Miscellanea
Alphametics -
An
extensive collection of original cryptarithms.
All Small Connected Graphs - in pictures.
Calendar Curiosities - including the world's shortest
day-of-week routine.
My Erdös-Bacon Number is 7.