The Beacon

Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: Opinions

We encounter symmetry on a regular basis in our daily lives in many different ways, in both the natural and human-made world. Symmetry also possesses the magic power of drawing our attention. Most of us value and enjoy experiencing symmetry both visually and mentally because it conveys a sense of the aesthetic, of balance, beauty, equality, evenness, harmony, neatness, perfection, pleasure and/or simplicity. Often times, we also incorporate symmetry in what we do in the arts and/or sciences to evoke at least one or more of these attributes.

A palindrome is a symmetric word, phrase, number or other sequence of units that reads the same forward and backward. It originates from the combination of two Greek words palin (means backward, again) and dromos (means running). The Greek word palindromos means "running back again." The word "palindrome" was first coined and introduced in the literature by English writer Ben Jonson in 1623, on line number 34 of his poem titled "An Execration upon Vulcan," which is poem number 43 in a collection of Jonson's 89 poems first published in 1640 under the title Underwood.

Commonly used palindrome words include dad, mom, eye, pup, wow, deed, noon, civic, kayak, level, madam, radar, refer, rotor, solos, rotator and racecar. There are also palindrome names such as Bob, Eve, Anna, and Hannah. Some examples of palindrome phrases that are constructed for amusement are "A man, a plan, a canal-Panama," "A Toyota," "Madam, in Eden I'm Adam!" "Never odd or even," "No, it can assess an action," "No, it is opposition," "No lemons, no melon," "Rats live on no evil star," "Rise to vote, Sir," and "Step on no pets!"

We also enjoy palindrome numbers in our lives such as palindrome years, ages, room numbers, phone numbers, street numbers, zip codes, etc. For example, my birthday will be special next year because I will turn 55. My old office number 303 is greater than my new office number by 88. In 2002 the University of Portland celebrated the 101st anniversary of its founding. 2112 will mark Mother Teresa's 202nd birthday. Palindrome numbers are fun to encounter and they indeed stand out.

Assuming each calendar date in all four-digit years is assigned a single eight-digit full date number as MMDDYYYY (where the first-two digits MM is the month, DD is the date, and YYYY is the year number), some of these dates are palindrome numbers and these dates are referred to as palindrome dates. For example, the first palindrome date of the 21st century occurred on Oct. 2, 2001 since the full date number of that day is 10022001.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools