Blowing & Drifting

Forecast: Significant blowing and drifting, with the possibility of heavy accumulation in rural areas.

Do the Math

Last week, my favorite jazz group, the Bad Plus released a great new album, PROG, which features several great original compositions, including "Physical Cities," which ranks in their best five originals, and some of their patented cover songs, such as a gripping interpretation of Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." (You can hear some of the tracks on the band's Myspace page, or read about their goings-on on their official blog, Do the Math. (Get it? Bad Plus? Do the Math?)

Then, today, I made the surely non-coincidental discovery that those sneaky mathematicians have not one, not two, but three different ways to represent mathematical operations: the familiar infix form 3 + 4 and two opposing forms, the prefix or "Polish notation" form + 3 4 and the postfix or "reverse Polish notation" 3 4 +. This information all but shattered my world. At least three ways to add? Holy crap. Nothing is sacred.

Wikipedia provides many more details, including the rationales for using each form. For instance, the "RPN" form is especially good for computerized calculations, as it obviates the need for embedded, recursive parentheses. Alas, not one of the articles mentions the fact that "Reverse Polish Notation" would itself be a great name for a jazz band.