New blog: Symbolism

I’ve started a new blog called Symbolism. Each post will take a symbol and say a few words about it.

So far I’ve written about the equal sign, the chi-rho, and the long S.

I’ve also started a Twitter account to go with the new blog, @DailySymbol.

[Update: The Twitter account @DailySymbol is still online but I no longer post there. The posts from the Symbolism blog have been archived here (mathematical posts) and here (non-mathematical).]

6 thoughts on “New blog: Symbolism

  1. Ooh! Very intersting. I wonder… are there actual Symbologists out there like Tom Hanks’ character in The DaVinci Code? :)

  2. “Semiotics” is the general name for the study of symbols. Probably the most famous semiotician in the world is Umberto Eco, author of The Name of the Rose and Foucault’s Pendulum (among others). I used to wonder whether Dan Brown was taking a subtle poke at Eco, but then I actually tried to read The DaVinci Code and realized that Brown can’t possibly be either smart or literate enough to think of that.

  3. By the way, I love the new blog, John. I’ll try not to make too much of a nuisance of myself in the comments.

  4. Dave: “Semiotics” would be a more accurate name for the blog, but “symbolism” is sort of a joke.

    I haven’t read The DaVinci Code, but from excerpts I’ve seen it seems the writing is terrible.

    Your comment about Dan Brown reminds me of a conversation I had the other day with an erudite priest who said “at first I thought he might be making an allusion to the opening of The Republic.” I don’t remember now what he was referring to, but it was something far too low-brow to contain any literary allusions.

  5. John: I wasn’t commenting on the name of the blog (which is a nice play on words); I was responding to Mitch above, who asked if there are actual Symbologists. My take is “Yes, but they call themselves Semioticians”. I should have made it more clear what I was responding to.

  6. Dave: I understood you were replying to Mitch. Thanks for your comments. I appreciate your contribution to the blog.

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