The Verb

Ira Lightman and Sean Damian Bruno

Saturday 2 December 2006 22:00-22:30 (Radio 3)

Ian McMillan presents the weekly language, literature and performance cabaret.

This programme celebrates the 300th anniversary of first usage of the Greek letter Pi to define the mathematical constant, with the help of public art poet Ira Lightman.

Plus arresting performance from Canadian spoken word artist Sean Damian Bruno.

Duration:

30 minutes

Playlist

This week on The Verb, Ian McMillan explores the poetry of maths and the maths of poetry. Crossing the boundaries between language and formula, Ian is joined by the award-winning poet of beauty and form, Wendy Cope, and by Graham Farmelo, Associate Professor of Physics at Northeastern University in Boston, to ask how a poem and an equation can be the same thing. This year marks 300 years of Pi, the Greek name for the equation which maps the relationship between a circle's perimeter and its diameter. The Verb celebrates Pi's 300th birthday with a specially commissioned Eartoon from the poet, mathematician and polymath Ira Lightman. And there's performance from the Canadian writer and actor Sean Damian Bruno, with an extract from his new one man drama, a tender exploration of family and loss. Join Ian McMillan for The Verb's maths and poetry extravaganza at ten o'clock this Saturday night here on Radio 3.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS
Wendy Cope's collection 'Serious Concerns', which contains the poem 'Two Cures for Love' is published by Faber and Faber.
Graham Farmelo's book 'It Must Be Beautiful: Great Equations of Modern Science' is published by granta Books.
For more information about Ira Lightman you can go to his website www.iralightman.com.
Sean Damian Bruno's Myspace account contains his biography and details of his work: www.myspace.com/seanbruno

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