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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Linguistics/math interface
People keep wondering how I journeyed from linguistics to math. Maybe they’re the same thing:
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When you pronounce that middle consonant, do you hear z or s?
How do you pronounce “Tesla”? Do you pronounce the middle consonant like a z, as the Italians do, or like an s, as it is spelled? Both pronunciations are “correct,” but how do you say it? Linguists will tell you… Read More ›
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No pirates. And it’s not in Penzance. But it’s nearby: It’s Death in Cornwall.
What, I wonder, draws me to the Celtic languages and Celtic lands, when I’ve never even been there and speak none of those languages? Irish, Manx, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish…all are missing from my language repertoire. And I’ve never visited… Read More ›
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Happy International Cat Day!
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The books of the century (Which century? The 20th, of course!)
You’re surely wondering which books were the most influential, or most popular, or most important in the 20th Century. Fortunately, Daniel Immerwahr has done the work for you. “Who’s he when he’s at home?” you’re asking. Well, in his own… Read More ›
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Interdisciplinarity (if there really is such a word)
Yesterday was the final day for this summer’s session of the Crimson Summer Academy. It was a successful return to in-person teaching after two summers of Zoom. We were all relieved to be back in front of real people instead… Read More ›
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Dan Kennedy is part of the solution!
Northeastern University professor Dan Kennedy is always worth reading. And also worth listening to—on Beat the Press with Emily Rooney and other shows. For my just-concluded Quantitative Reasoning class at the Crimson Summer Academy I wish we had had time… Read More ›
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No, Mark Twain didn’t say that!
“I never said half of the things I said,” remarked Yogi Berra. Or so the story goes. Similarly, Mark Twain is often credited with writing things that he never wrote. As are Winston Churchill and Benjamin Disraeli and other distinguished… Read More ›
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Another Jersey Girl Mystery
Five days ago I wrote a brief review of E.J. Copperman’s third mystery novel in his Jersey Girl series. I pointed out that I had inadvertently skipped the second novel in the series, Judgment at Santa Monica. I commented that it… Read More ›
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We have hope for the future: My students’ interdisciplinary presentations
👏 We just finished listening to the interdisciplinary presentations from my students’ end-of-summer projects. As you know, the course is an applied math course called Quantitative Reasoning; these rising sophomores showed just that with passion and commitment. In the words… Read More ›
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Books with linguists
Read that title again: it’s books with linguists, not books for linguists. This thought came from a post on Language Log, in which Barbara Phillips Long asks whether “there are books with linguists as major characters.” Commenters came to the rescue, with… Read More ›
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Two different worlds: my students’ favorite musical artists
Yesterday we conducted a mock election to determine my students’ favorite musical artists using Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). The purpose was to let them experience RCV first-hand by going through a simulation. I think it accomplished that goal. What most… Read More ›
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Great fun! This is a truly enjoyable mystery novel!
I am not a big reader of cozies. But this is a worthwhile exception. I’m talking about Witness for the Persecution, by E.J. Copperman. Or is it by Jeff Cohen? Anyway, yes, the word is persecution, not prosecution. You’re probably… Read More ›
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Too hot to cook!
Yes, I know. Going out to eat twice in one week is decadent. But it’s just so hot. Definitely too hot to cook. So we went to our usual favorite, the Ashmont Grill. Barbara started with what used to be… Read More ›
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A European view on languages
Seven Languages in Seven Days! That sure sounds familiar. Four years ago I taught a four-day course that was somewhat misleadingly called Five Languages in Five Days (check out the link), so my eye was certainly caught by a description… Read More ›
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Tavolo
Too hot to cook last night! So we just had to go out to eat at Tavolo. It was quite a sacrifice, but someone had to do it. Unfortunately, they were understaffed. Poor Chris was the only server! But he… Read More ›
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Atrius/Harvard Vanguard acquired by a for-profit company
Not that I’m worried or anything…I’m sure that the quality of my health care will continue to be just as good, now that the non-profit medical practice I have used for half a century has been acquired by a for-profit… Read More ›
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შემომეჭამა
There might be a typo in that title! Did you catch it? No, this not just a bunch of squiggles! It’s a real word, written in a real script, in a real language—one that is spoken by four million real… Read More ›
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Three steamed lobstahs
Freshly steamed take-out from George at Adams Fish Market. The cats are very curious.
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224 again (does that make 448?)
A delicious dinner last night in an outside umbrella’d booth at 224 Boston Street. Barbara started with kung pao calamari, followed by a southwest salad. I started with pork dumplings, followed by a pan-seared duck breast with roasted carrot purée,… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 