Adrift in a Sea of Numbers

Lynn Steen (1941-2015), a long-time champion ofCOMAPand TheUMAP Journal, died in June. In the prospectus for this Journal (issue 0), Lynn wrote the first column for the Journal's occasional section On Jargon, which was his idea. An On Jargon column addresses explication of mathematical terminology, notation, and concepts.
Below is the previously unpublished text of Lynn's address to the 2009 Honors Day Convocation at St. Olaf College, with an Introduction by then- Provost James May. We are grateful to Provost May and to Lynn's literary executor, his wife Mary Steen, for permission to publish this piece.