The Garden of Constants

I was finding my way around the Ohio State campus, a little lost but I had left early, so rest assured, I arrived on time anyway.  To assist in my walking navigation I pulled up Maps on my phone and saw that en route to my destination (an engineering building, to participate in a research study) I would be pass by something called “The Garden of Constants”. 

“How lovely,” I thought to myself, thinking about the beauty of the name and just looking forward to the fact that I’d be passing through a garden on my way, and in near winter no less. 

It’s math. It’s a garden about math. I was crestfallen. Ugh. I love flowers, nature and gardening and poetry… math and I, not so much. 

Well played, Math Department. I get it, yeah. Constants are also numbers. And the pavers include math equations, and I am guessing, ‘constants?’ 

It did encourage me to pick up my pace as I had an appointment to get to and this little practical joke on the route is something that prompted me get on my way. Dad, my science professor Dad, would’ve smiled at the irony. 

For whatever it is worth, my appointment was to participate in a clinical research trial on the spine. Science and research, are just a bit closer to my heart than math.