Author Archives
In 2018 I semi-retired by retiring from Weston High School after my 21st year teaching mathematics there. This was also my 44th year as a teacher altogether. In 2023 I retired fully, adding in my 18 years at Harvard’s Crimson Summer Academy each summer. For 21 years I had taught at the Saturday Course in Milton, MA, and I used to serve on the board of the Dorchester Historical Society.
I read, cook, and spend a lot of time building my model railroad. For some reason I’m left with less free time than would be ideal, considering that I’m supposed to be retired, but somehow I also manage to devote time to my wife, Barbara, and to our varying number of cats (once up to six, but now sadly down to one).
Larry Davidson
ljd@larrydavidson.com
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How people get to this page
It’s a bit puzzling to see how various readers found their way to this blog. Looking at the referrers, I wonder at some of the searches. Here are a few examples: Google: rachel, bartlett, chicago Google: venn, diagram, about, bubonic,… Read More ›
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God had a deadline
For the second time this year I came across a link to “The Eternal Flame,” a song that speaks to those of us who believe in the power, efficiency, and mathematical insight offered by the Lisp/Scheme/Logo family of computer programming… Read More ›
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Should we use textbooks?
Almost all math teachers (and 63% of teachers of other subjects as well*) distribute textbooks in our courses at the beginning of September. But then four different styles emerge: Some teachers go through the textbook chapter by chapter — in… Read More ›
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An unsolicited testimonial
I love my new Neoprene laptop case. It’s soft, it’s extremely lightweight, and it opens up in such a way that it’s remarkably easy to keep the case on while using the computer. What more can I say?
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Stopping to ask directions
An activity in one of my Saturday Course classes this morning was a crypto treasure hunt. Each group of three fifth-graders had to decrypt a cryptogram, leading to a somewhat mystifying plaintext, which in turn took them to a location… Read More ›
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Killing five birds with one stone
At a recent Math Department meeting, we discussed the question of whether we should offer more math electives. Currently the only non-AP electives that Weston offers are two one-semester Comp Sci courses, but we’re a small high school and probably… Read More ›
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The T Word
Why is it politically incorrect to point out that mathematical talent is one of the necessary components of doing well in high-level math courses? No one would expect that just any random kid could make the varsity football team. We… Read More ›
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Does the school day start too early?
Tracy Jan’s article in yesterday’s Boston Globe indirectly quotes Brighton High School basketball coach: To boost attendance, alertness, and academic achievement, Mahoney said, high schools should start later. High schools around the Bay State are considering the idea because federal… Read More ›
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Disappearing statistics
A wire-service article appeared yesterday on the Boston Globe’s website, boston.com, but now the article has mysteriously disappeared. Fortunately most of it is still available elsewhere, so we can examine its questionable use of statistics. It begins by reporting some… Read More ›
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Not yet reading
Yesterday we held our regular first-Wednesday-of-the-month professional development activity. This time it was a planning session for an event three months hence — a day based on Tracy Kidder’s latest book, Mountains Beyond Mountains. (This book comes with two slightly… Read More ›
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Logs
Why are logarithms so difficult? Algebra students who are consistently competent in other topics often stumble when they get to logs. Sure, they can memorize an algorithm for switching from exponential form to logarithmic form and vice versa, and most… Read More ›
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An invitation from Tufts Health Plan
The form letter begins as follows: Dear Rosalita Davidson, Do you have a plan for retirement? Remember, there’s more to consider than the size of your pension or 401(K). There’s also your health insurance. Medicare is important. But it may… Read More ›
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We so-called experts have been wrong for almost 7 years
Those of us who teach math and computer science have been proud of our knowledge that a kilobyte is really 1024 bytes, not 1000. So “Y2K” doesn’t really refer to 2000 but to 2048. Similarly, we believe (and teach) that… Read More ›
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Pythagorean Theorem in so-called real life
Reading this case might prove helpful for some students who think that math is useless in real life (at least those who plan to be lawyers or drug dealers). But shouldn’t the court have used Taxicab Geometry for its distance… Read More ›
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Irrationality considered harmful
“I refuse to deal with irrational numbers until they’ve calmed down,” says one Jeff Schult, who claims that math is a cult. Read the whole article. I hope it doesn’t represent what Weston students think about math. We shouldn’t use… Read More ›
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Should honors classes be open to all?
At least on political grounds, it’s tempting to argue that honors and AP classes ought to be open to all who wish to enroll in them. It’s also tempting to argue it on educational grounds. We believe in giving everyone… Read More ›
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What is trigonometry?
“Trigonometry is algebra tainted by geometry,” according to one of my students.
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Logarithms and the Hippocratic Oath
I just finished reading The Oath, a novel by John Lescroart. A hospital is suffering from deep financial woes. One character says: Every day the hospital’s troubles are increasing logarithmically! I guess there isn’t much that they have to worry… Read More ›
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Charging what the market will bear
The folks at TechFusion must be good guys, right? After all, their company is one of WBUR’s underwriters. And they advertise “No Job Too Large or Too Small.” Of course I was suspicious in the first place when I heard… Read More ›
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Globe speaks out for Dorchester!
What does the Globe normally say about Dorchester? Well, the three most frequently reported topics are crime, crime, and crime. So it was welcome news to see a large article right on the first page of Metro/Region in yesterday’s Globe… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 