Midlife Calculus by Britt Kaufmann

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Midlife Calculus by Britt Kaufmann

Jun 16, 2025

Transcript

Midlife Calculus

Britt Kaufmann

Edited by Dava Sobel

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Would that I could
measure the volume
of a glass half-full

\(V = \frac{\pi r^2h}{2}\)

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but the h of my being
is an unknowable variable.
Nor can I work backwards
the equation for half-life

\(t_{1/2}= \frac{ln2}{\lambda}\)

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to account for
the value of one well-lived.
I can hope this crisis
is the midpoint

\(\left(\frac{x_1 + x_2}{2}, \frac{y_1 + y_2}{2}\right)\)

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and that I don't outlive
the remembrance of my past
to be caught in a Möbius present.
I have learned enough, now,
to measure precisely how much it holds,
the irregular curves—
less the difference of the holes life left—
and yet, my heart is still full.