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 “Ich bin ein Berliner” myth. Admit it, you’ve always believed this urban legend, haven’t you?
You know JFK’s famous speech in 1963, where he said “Ich bin ein Berliner,” where the American pedants and English-language German books all claim that it really means “I am a jelly donut,” not “I am a Berliner” as Kennedy… Read More ›
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Inherit the Shoes, by E.J. Copperman
This is a genuinely funny mystery. We need funny these days, don’t we? If you haven’t heard of E.J. Copperman, read my reviews of two of his earlier books: The Question of the Missing Head and its sequel, The Question… Read More ›
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Punching down or punching up?
“Why do we have to have a Black History Month?” whined one of my less favorite Weston students in February of 2016. “Why don’t we have a White History Month?” “Because,” I replied without taking time to think, “every month… Read More ›
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All Girls
As you can tell from the title, this novel is about an all-girls school. Or maybe you can’t tell that, but it’s still true. We’re not talking about a working-class Catholic girls’ school from South Boston, but a traditionally preppy… Read More ›
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Yikes! Lying with statistics! About COVID! And from Massachusetts officials, no less!
Apparently schools are magical places where kids don’t get COVID. You know, because youth. To prove this, the Mass Department of Public Health has just released this informative graph: Look at the bars. As you can tell from a mere… Read More ›
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Finding Freedom (Freedom, Maine, of course—were you thinking of something else?)
Did you go to summer camp in Freedom, Maine? I did. And at least two of my students did. The summer camp in question is Hidden Valley Camp. (No, nothing to do with ranch dressing, as some people claim to… Read More ›
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Kafka on K-12 math education
What, you may wonder, did Franz Kafka have to say about K–12 math education? Probably nothing, you might say to yourself. But you would be wrong. At least according to Ben Orlin. As you know, Kafka’s second-most-famous novel, The Trial,… Read More ›
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Avoid a risk in eleven languages!
Look at the image below. How many of these eleven languages can you identify? No fair asking Dr. Google! And I don’t think we can count English, since if you’re reading this blog you obviously can identify English. So how… Read More ›
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Vichit-Vadakan
When you watched the Jeopardy Tournament of Champions last week, you noticed the outstanding performance of finalist Veronica Vichit-Vadakan. And you probably wondered about her last name. You figured that there were several possibilities: perhaps she has a parent named… Read More ›
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Nine Nasty Words
John McWhorter is a well-known (at least in certain circles) public intellectual, mostly because of his first-rate podcast, Lexicon Valley. His latest book, Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever, is a lively but scholarly account… Read More ›
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A Conspiracy of Bones by Kathy Reichs
Don’t read this Temperance Brennan novel if you are a lover of Fox News and/or think that Trump really won the 2020 election! Even though political issues take up only about 3% of this forensic mystery, you’ll still be too… Read More ›
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Restaurants need more business on Tuesdays. So we had to go eat at Tavolo last night.
Restaurants need more business on Tuesdays. So we had to go eat at Tavolo last night. I know, it was quite a sacrifice, but somebody had to do it. Barbara had a margherita pizza with a side of house meatballs… Read More ›
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I missed the milestone! Post #2000!
Five posts ago—that was my 2000th post in this blog! I had been intending to observe that as an important milestone, but it slipped past me. Oh well, let’s just turn the clock back to May 16, and we’ll be… Read More ›
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Vincent and William
Keeping a watchful eye out for intruders, Vincent guards his brother William as he sleeps:
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Goat problems!
No, no, we’re not talking about your pet goat’s behavioral problems. We’re talking about a certain type of math problem—a type of problem to which I used to devote a couple of classes per year when I was teaching Honors… Read More ›
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There was violence in Congress! (Hard to believe, I know—but true…)
Hyper-partisanship in the halls of Congress is nothing new. But at least we don’t have physical violence there anymore. Not today, at any rate. Are you listening, Mitch? Joanne B. Freeman has written an outstanding history book, The Field of… Read More ›
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Dana Bullister for City Council!
Normally I don’t endorse political candidates in this blog. But normally my former students don’t run for office! In fact, as far as I know, this is only the 2½th time. Please correct me if I am wrong. Why the… Read More ›
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A beautiful abacus set… and it was free! Free is good.
A family giving away their beautiful abacus set! Who could resist? Not me. As you will see in the photos below, we have an authentic Chinese abacus in pristine condition, inside a box in pristine condition, along with an undated… Read More ›
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The Art and Craft of Approaching Your Head of Department to Submit a Request for a Raise
Despite the title, this is a novel! Actually, the title is a bit problematic. The actual title of Georges Perec’s novel is L’art et la manière d’aborder son chef de service pour lui demander une augmentation, but perhaps for some… Read More ›
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Brasserie: An old but new restaurant in the South End
It rises again like the phoenix! As you know, the sad fact is that many restaurants have been forced to close permanently during the pandemic. But we were delighted to learn that one of our favorites, Gaslight Brasserie du Coin,… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 