A surd of Lisp? Found this yesterday:<p>Are There Things-in-Themselves<p>By<p>Dr. Paul Carus<p>Title: The Surd of Metaphysics
1903<p>without heirs to her fathers was gathered,
Here at the auctioneer's<p>"things-in-themselves" will be sold.<p>.................<p>Vorwort:<p>The relation between the circumference and the diameter of
the circle is quite definite and concrete, but if expressed of a
numerical fraction its value can only be approximated, admitting
of an infinite progress in accuracy. So the world is determinable
and science is reliable in spite of the fact that her work can never
be finished, and however much we progress and advance in the
solution of life's problem, we can never reach the end. But this
condition of things is not depressive to a healthy mind. On the
contrary, it is an elevating idea that the source of knowledge will
never run dry, and that the waters of life are inexhaustible.<p>-Paul Carus 110 years ago<p>(note: of Carus Mathematical Monographs, MAA)