For if each Star is little more a mathematical Point,
located upon the Hemisphere of Heaven by Right Ascension and Declination,
then all the Stars, taken together, tho’ innumerable,
must like any other set of points,
in turn represent some single gigantick Equation,
to the mind of God as straightforward as, say, the Equation of a Sphere,
—to us unreadable, incalculable.
A lonely, uncompensated, perhaps even impossible Task,
—yet some of us must ever be seeking, I suppose.
\[e^{i\pi} = -1\] \[\text{ ``For if each Star is little more a mathematical Point,}\] \[\text{located upon the Hemisphere of Heaven by Right Ascension and Declination,}\] \[\text{then all the Stars, taken together, tho' innumerable,}\] \[\text{must like any other set of points,}\] \[\text{in turn represent some single gigantick Equation,}\] \[\text{to the mind of God as straightforward as, say, the Equation of a Sphere,}\] \[\text{--- to us unreadable, incalculable.}\] \[\text{A lonely, uncompensated, perhaps even impossible Task,}\] \[\text{--- yet some of us must ever be seeking, I suppose."}\] \[\text{- Thomas Pynchon, }\textit{ Mason \& Dickson }\]\(e^{i\pi} = -1\)