Archive for February, 2009
The Mathematician, by Henk A. van der Vorst
Posted in Uncategorized on February 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Elusive boundary of proof
Posted in Uncategorized on February 24, 2009 | 4 Comments »
This is one of the stories that came in response to my call for childhood stories.
Alexei Lisitsa:
I read about the Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic when I was about 10 or 11. I felt very uncomfortable about the proof of the Theorem. The statement seemed so obvious that the proof appeared to be absolutely redundant, not [...]
The truth about science
Posted in Uncategorized on February 23, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Sue Blackmore in the Guardian:
Science is not clever and elitist – that’s the message the government wants to give young people, in order to attract more into studying science. But that’s a lie.
Another popular search word: “Graphed Paper”
Posted in Uncategorized on February 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Not in the same league as “Banksy“, but “graphed paper” is a popular search word leading to my blogs. Again, I yield to popular demand and palce here a graphic work by Mel Bochner.
To Infinity and Beyond: Mathematics in Contemporary Art
Posted in Uncategorized on February 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I learned about this exhibition at Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, NY, April 19, 2008 – June 22, 2008, only as a result of my search for more Mel Brochner musings on Pythagoras (my quest was inspired by his unintentionally outrageous Meditation on the Theorem of Pythagoras. His later work is an attempt of mathematical redemption.
Blurb:
Our era is driven [...]
Meditation on the Theorem of Pythagoras
Posted in Uncategorized on February 19, 2009 | 8 Comments »
From MAA Online:
The cover illustration of the January 2009 issue of The College Mathematics Journal(CMJ) has perplexed—even disturbed—a number of people. The cover features a photo of a 1972 work by prominent contemporary artist Mel Bochner titled Meditation on the Theorem of Pythagoras.
Down with evidence-based research!
Posted in Uncategorized on February 17, 2009 | 10 Comments »
I had already had a chance to rant against evidence-based educational research which leads to replacement individual studies by faceless statistics. It is a sensitive issue for me since I am writing a book based entirely on exceptional individual cases. But today I touch on a similar and earlier development in medical research: indidual cases disappeared [...]
Achilles, Tortoise and Yessenin-Volpin
Posted in Uncategorized on February 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
[moved here from the old blog]
I quote a description of Zeno’s “Achilles and Tortoise” paradox from Wikipedia:
“In a race, the quickest runner can never overtake the slowest, since the pursuer must first reach the point whence the pursued started, so that the slower must always hold a lead.” (Aristotle Physics VI:9, 239b15)
In the paradox of Achilles and [...]
We were lucky that it was not mathematics…
Posted in Uncategorized on February 13, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Estelle Morris, who was Education Secretary in 2002, told BBC why she scrapped compulsory modern languages in England’s secondary schools:
The scrapping of compulsory modern languages in England’s secondary schools was a consequence of truancy crackdowns, the BBC has learnt.
Former education secretary Estelle Morris, who took the decision in 2002, says the aim was a flexible [...]
A story from LW
Posted in Uncategorized on February 7, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I’m not sure [my story] is very interesting but I use it anecdotally every now and then in my current job. It happened when I was 10 (I’m female). English is my mother tongue and was the language of instruction too.
I went to a girls’ private junior school and everyone in my class [...]
