Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate Atlantis or any of the Stargate franchise.
A/N: This was written in response to the prompt:
Stargate Atlantis, any scientist, Science is the poetry of reality
Proof of Beauty
Trapped in Atlantis without access to regular entertainment venues, the members of the Atlantis expedition make due.
A few bands of various styles start and perform gigs in a "music room".
Another room has been dedicated as an art museum. It has a collection made up of pieces that has been collected off world or created by expedition members.
A bit of server space is dedicated to a shared library that includes original works of writing as well as whatever e-books various members could exhibit.
The social scientists moderate most of these efforts.
They keep the venues organized but not quality controlled. The rule is, while you can mock and taunt any artistic attempt (expedition members being expected to defend their own and give back as good as they get in any fight whether in mortal combat or discussion of artistic styles), no moderator will say what is or is not art.
When Rodney McKay makes a post to the poetry section of their library, multiple people perk up immediately at this wonderful chance to mock him.
If it had been bad poetry, the soldiers would have been delighted. If it had been good poetry, they'd probably have been a bit disappointed actually.
What it was, was a series of equations.
One of the moderators went to ask him to shift it to the regular science server. He had posted it either very late at night or very early in the morning and was most likely a accident.
She found him talking with another other scientists, both of them looking exhausted and holding their coffee mugs like salvation.
One of them was saying, "Is beautiful. Elegant and perfect."
McKay actually blushes. "Thanks. It just, I needed to clear my brain a bit, so I just, it fits together so well, doesn't it?"
"Is proof that the world is beautiful."
"So you think it was okay to post as poetry? I was tired and it is poetry, but..."
"It is poetry. I will post my favorite proof tonight. Is from grade school, so very simple, but so elegant you will weep."
"Then I will post this one from undergrad, absolutely hilarious. It will make you laugh."
She leaves it for a day, and sure enough two more posts appear in the poetry section of the library containing equations. Apparently not an accident.
She looks at them for a bit and they still look like incomprehensible.
She gets one of the other social scientists who has a math background to explain the equation to her and while she only vaguely follows his explanation, she's impressed by the softening in his eyes as he looks at the equations. He looks like he is looking at something beautiful.
She's a linguist and a polyglot and this text means nothing to her. She wonders how hard it would be to learn this language so that she could read this proof of beauty in the original.