A calculus of the absurd

Chapter 11 Integral calculus

In the dynamic space of the living Rocket, the double integral has a different meaning. To integrate here is to operate on a rate of change so that time falls away: change is stilled .... "Meters per second" will integrate to "meters." The moving vehicle is frozen, in space, to be- come architecture, and timeless. It was never launched. It will never fall

Thomas Pynchon, G RAVITY ’ S R AINBOW. Usually somewhere around p. 301 (depending on edition.)

11.1 Introduction