Orthogonate Maths

Just putting the finishing touches to a chapter of my latest project, the Time Traders and stumbled upon this interesting definition:

“Orthogonate Maths is the branch of mathematics in which all new quantities are assumed to exist in their own dimension, orthogonal (i.e. at ninety-degrees) to all other dimensions. Thus Orthogonate Maths applies Pythagoras’s Theorum to simple addition, so that 1 + 1 = square-root of 2, and not 2 as in the normal outmoded Euclidean ideas about numbers.

“This branch of maths is thought to be the key to understanding the mechanics of magic, as well as such inexplicable natural phenomena as the horizontal gravity on Tellus V.

“Note: Tellus V suffers terrible barometric pressure differences between its east and west horizons, and plagues of heavy ruminant animals falling across its fields, regularly ruining its crops and taller citizens. In consequence, the sentient species of Tellus have evolved to be only 7 inches tall and resemble a hall carpet when viewed from above. It is also the only known planet to have an ‘international gravity line’ to deal with the gravitational discontinuity where other planets change date.”