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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The Best Years of our Lives
Even if you don’t know this classic 1946 movie—even if you’ve never heard of it—you will surely suspect that the title is meant ironically. The movie poster (below) even contains scare quotes that belie the obligatory smiles. So yes, the… Read More ›
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Music to our ears
All math teachers and mathematicians love music, but not all musicians love math. That has been my experience, at any rate, based on a fairly large sample. Recently I listened to a Freakonomics episode featuring British mathematician Sarah Hart, in… Read More ›
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Whining about Daylight Saving Time
If I were a pedant (which of course I’m not), I would feel compelled to articulate four pet peeves related to Daylight Saving Time: Some people—I’m thinking of you, Ethel—call it Daylight Savings Time! (Apparently it has something to do… Read More ›
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Look it up! But first understand the purpose of dictionaries.
A dictionary in every room. That was an essential feature of our home when I was growing up. That way, when a question came up in conversation, no matter which room we were in, we could always look up a… Read More ›
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Don’t read this book if you’re a Donald Trump fan! (It will only infuriate you.)
“Raging fascist oaf” is one subtle description of The Former Guy in the satirical novel Squeeze Me, by Carl Hiaasen. As you know, there are two kinds of satire: the dark ones, like 1984, and the humorous ones, like Squeeze… Read More ›
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Are you a Renaissance man?
You may wonder why on earth you would want to read a book about Renaissance education. Perhaps you’re under the illusion that education during the Renaissance was like the image in this cartoon: But no, as you see from the… Read More ›
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Should you switch?
No, I don’t mean switch from Coke to Pepsi, nor from math to linguistics. I am not even referring to the Monty Hall problem, though that seems more likely under the circumstances. I am talking about the fascinating two-envelope paradox…. Read More ›
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What does the Thursday Murder Club do?
Do the members of the club commit murders on Thursdays? Do they always solve murders on Thursdays? Definitely not the former. The latter is closer to the truth, but that’s not quite it either. They meet every Thursday, and they… Read More ›
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Translating Medicarespeak into other languages
I was looking through the newest information from Medicare, which looked to my untrained eyes just like the previous version and the one before that and the one before… What caught my eye won’t surprise you: some sentences (presumably equivalent… Read More ›
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Men of Boston Cook for Women’s Health
Every year—well, not last year, for obvious reasons—the Codman Square Health Center in the center of Dorchester hosts a fundraiser called Men of Boston Cook for Women’s Health. Barbara and I have attended almost every year from 1996 through 2017,… Read More ›
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Street art in Dot
No, it’s not a gallery, nor a museum. These are works of art created by anonymous artists in my neighborhood, spotted on a recent walk. The first two are—if you look closely—a pair of well-decorated traffic light control boxes. The… Read More ›
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On the planet of the apps: Between Glossika and DuoLingo, who wins?
I have been trying these two language-learning apps every day for a month now. You may recall that I wrote about them three weeks ago, when I continued to review my rusty German, since I used to be pretty good… Read More ›
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Read Stanley Tucci’s memoir, Taste !
Actors? Mostly I can take ’em or leave ’em. But there are a few actors I find memorable, and Stanley Tucci is one of them. I knew him originally from The Big Night and Julie and Julia, and more recently… Read More ›
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Democracy? How could geometry tell us anything about democracy? To find out, read Shape, by Jordan Ellenberg!
Even if you don’t usually read applied math books, you need to read Shape, by Jordan Ellenberg. The subtitle tells you more than the title: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else. Yes, I know, it… Read More ›
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Nothing to see here. Move along.
I never discuss politics in these posts. (Well, hardly ever. I do make an exception for the Former Guy.) So there’s no politics in this post. Don’t look at the picture: it’s just a photo of an unremarkable nearby house,… Read More ›
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A Lincoln-Sudbury alumnus stars in Gifted.
Chris Evans—an actor you may recognize, but I don’t—is a Lincoln-Sudbury alum (’99?) and the star of the movie Gifted, which you should definitely see. See it even if you have no connection whatsoever with either Lincoln or Sudbury! Evans… Read More ›
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Polychromatic house
Walked by this Dorchester house on today’s walk. I really like the color combo, but I suspect that a lot of people don’t.
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A near-future dystopian novel by a Canadian woman author: any guesses who the author is?
No, it’s not Margaret Atwood. We’re talking about The Madness of Crowds, by Louise Penny. It’s not nearly as dystopian as Atwood’s vision, but it still nudges us in that direction. This is the newest (#17) novel in the Armand… Read More ›
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The curious, enthralling and extraordinary story of English spelling
That’s the subtitle of a wonderful book that was written for you, if you are a reader of English. Also if you’re a writer in English. And most especially if you have to spell English words, as the main title… Read More ›
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Pete remembers Woody.
Please don’t say “Pete who?” or “Woody who?” I hope you know who the title refers to. The original version of this wonderful memorial came out nearly seven years ago as an LP; the CD version was released nine years… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 