A Gender Bender with a Crazy Touch Globe & Mail Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Barry Who? San Francisco Chronicle Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Are Michelin Stars Overrated? The Guardian Take a look at an interesting article we found.
 by J. Peterman |
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 by J. Peterman |
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 by Heiress |
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March 31, 2008
I was having coffee the other morning with my favorite ESPN sports show when one of the guests, Hall of Fame sportswriter Peter Gammons said that Barry Bonds' record home run ball, on its way to Cooperstown, shouldn't have a "silly" asterisk attached to it.
Now completely wide eyed, I perked up even more. Sure enough, it was confirmed an hour later, (since these shows are repeated endlessly), that he did, in fact, say "silly."
If Mr. Gammons had said the use of the asterisk in this circumstance was silly, I might have agreed. But calling this particular glyph "silly" is silly indeed.
The asterisk's name itself is derived from the Latin word astrum, which means "star." We don't exactly know when this star (the original shape was six armed) was born, but we do know that it has at least been around since feudal times, and that it was originally a printer's symbol to indicate date of birth.
Whatever its origins, there is no denying its lasting star power.
Consider this simple declarative sentence: Columbus discovers America in 1492.
Now do this: Columbus discovers America in 1492.*
*For one thing, the people who lived there discovered it first. Furthermore, there is some evidence that a massive Chinese fleet of junks and support ships made a two-year circumnavigation of the globe, with extensive exploration of the Americas, nearly a century before Magellan and Columbus.
With one tiny mark, the most famous explorer of all time is written off as an also-ran.
And how would we know what movies or restaurants to go to if asterisks didn't supply a star system that guides us?
Still doubt its persuasive power? The fields marked with an asterisk must be filled out. And what do we do? We fill them out. If we don't, the computer insists that we do.
And if you want to take a strong stand and attack my stance and say, "I think what you've said is complete s**t," the asterisk makes it possible for you to remain a member of the Peterman's Eye community in good standing.
Besides being used as a footnote, a sign of omission, a classification system, saving your connection to a stimulating website, the asterisk is also invaluable in higher mathematics.
The most common use is to denote multiplication so, for example, 2*3=2×3=6. A doubled asterisk a**b is used to denote non-commutative multiplication. However, in Fortran, the first successful programming language, a double asterisk denotes exponentiation. When used as a superscript, the asterisk is commonly voiced "a-star." A raised asterisk is used to denote the adjoint a^*, or sometimes the complex conjugate.
You may not understand any of this, and I certainly don't have a clue. But then we're not a star.
Silly?
Mr. Gammons? Perhaps you'd care to rephrase your statement?
(*It's not my Eye. It belongs to everyone who wants to participate.)
Share the Eye:
An Asterisk for Major League Baseball theblackcommentator Take a look at an interesting article we found.
If Maris Had an Asterisk... thehomerunguys.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Peter Gammons Denies Steroid Use thespoof.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
still thinking about today...
Should Barry Bonds' 756th home-run ball be inscribed with an asterisk?
25% 5% 30% 40%
reedd said...
Mr. Peterman,
I don't think it's silly or s**t at all.
Reedd*
*a member of Peterman's Eye in good standing
thecatalyst said...
Thanks for an interesting blog. Not the typical sh*t you see everywhere else.
jmr said...
Peterman has the most astute eye in the blogosphere.(place asterisk here, if desired)
Still deciphering the math. (no asterisk here, I'm really lost)
Thanks for keeping it interesting. Barry gets the asterisk.
JMR
It is a shame to see the asterisk pushed out by the so-called "scare quotes". Nowadays a journalist writing about the history of the New World would likely make the statement about Columbus without any further exposition:
Columbus "discovers" America in 1492.
Maybe we can combine the two: and use "*" for a special type of footnote wherein the entire phrase is called into question.
Senator ___________________, candidate for president, has announced a new
( fill in blank)
plan for___________________________. "*"
(fill in what concerns you most)
Never has one little symbol had the potential to say so much.