A Ton of Crap (119 page)

Rosa Parks
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks boarded a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. A white passenger told her to give up her seat and move to the “colored section,” which was in the back of the bus. Parks refused and, as a result, was arrested. In response to her arrest, the African American community of Montgomery, led by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., boycotted the city’s public transportation. The boycott lasted for 381 days and reduced revenue by 80 percent. On December 21, 1956, the buses were desegregated.

FRANZ KAFKA

Kafka and Existentialism
Kafka’s work explores fully the concepts of absurdity and dread. Kafka wrote about characters in a surreal world who only wanted to be recognized and accepted by those around them. His work invokes concepts of cruelty, pity, and injustice. He placed rationality in the irrational. His work shows that there is nothing a person can do to give meaning to his or her relationship with the world.

DIOPHANTINE EQUATIONS

Examples of Diophantine Equations
You have seen countless examples of Diophantine equations. The values of
x
,
y
, and
z
are unknown and represent real values.

The Pythagorean theorem is one example of a Diophantine equation:

a
²
 + 
b
²
 = 
c
²

Another example is Pell’s equation, where
n
is a constant:

x
2 – 
ny
2 = ± 1

The Erdős–Straus conjecture states:

This can also be stated as the polynomial equation:

4
xyz
 = 
yzn
 + 
xzn
 + 
xyn
 = 
n
(
yz
 + 
xz
 + 
xy
)

MITOSIS

Metaphase
In metaphase, chromosomes are aligned along the middle of the nucleus of the cell and are held in place by microtubules of spindle fibers. This is known as the metaphase plate. Chromosomes are oriented so that kinetochores, a protein structure on the chromosomes, are facing the pole, and each tail of the chromosomes are facing each other. The organization allows for the new nuclei to receive a single copy of each chromosome when separation occurs (in the next phase).

KHOISAN LANGUAGES

Hadza
Hadza is spoken by around 800 people in Tanzania, and around half of those that speak Hadza remain hunters and gatherers. The Hadza language is not related to any other Khoisan language. Even though it features clicks, the words found in the language are unique and do not originate from any other languages. It has been suggested that the Hadza people and the Jul’hoan people have the most different mitochondrial DNA found within any group of people, and that perhaps these people were the first to split from the family tree. This would suggest that their languages are the closest to the original human languages, and that the first languages featured clicks.

CIVIL RIGHTS

Project C
Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference created a plan to challenge the segregation of Birmingham, Alabama, and this plan came to be known as “Project C” (for confrontation). Their strategy involved sending a message about the horrors of segregation through nonviolence, with boycotts, rallies, and peaceful demonstrations. The police reacted to these nonviolent actions with police dogs, violence, and fire hoses. On April 12, 1963, Martin Luther King was arrested. While in prison, King wrote his famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”

FRANZ KAFKA

“The Metamorphosis”
One of Kafka’s most well-known stories is “The Metamorphosis.” The story revolves around Gregor Samsa, who one day awakes to discover that he has turned into a large insect (it is never mentioned what kind). The story follows Gregor as he deals with this situation, and how his family deals with it. Ultimately, the family cannot stand to look at Gregor anymore and Gregor dies, giving the family relief that he is gone. The story deals with the absurdity of life, the disconnect between one’s body and one’s mind, alienation, and how much sympathy a person can have.

DIOPHANTINE EQUATIONS

Hilbert’s Tenth Problem
In 1900, German mathematician David Hilbert created a list of twenty-three mathematical problems that had not been solved at the time. His tenth problem proposed a question as to whether there was an algorithm that existed that could determine if there was a solution to any random Diophantine equation. There is an algorithm that exists for first-order Diophantine equations (meaning the variables do not have any powers greater than 1). A mathematician named Matiyasevich was able to prove in Matiyasevich’s theorem that it was impossible to create a general algorithm.

MITOSIS

Anaphase
The chromosomes that are paired begin to separate at the kinetochores. The kinetochores then start to move toward the poles. Once this has happened, the polar fibers will elongate, which starts to spread the poles farther apart from one another. The sister chromatids then separate, and move toward their related poles.

KHOISAN LANGUAGES