A couple of mathematical follow-ups to my recent post about my niece’s wedding: Wedding favors are a standard perk; in this case we received tote bags hand-made by the bride. But there was a mathematical twist to the posted sign:… Read More ›
Math
Graphing calculator prices: how TI cornered the market
You’re a student. Why are you required to buy a Texas Instruments calculator? Why not something cheaper and better? Usually what you’re buying is a TI-84, a 15-year-old piece of expensive technology. Zachary Crockett explains how we got into this… Read More ›
“America’s math curriculum doesn’t add up,” observes Steve Levitt.
Please listen to (or read) this week’s Freakonomics podcast. I will wait. No, actually, I’m going to discuss it without making any prior assumptions that you have listened to it or read it: If you’ve been reading this blog for… Read More ›
Diversity and majorities in Boston elections
Boston just had a preliminary election yesterday (more or less what other places call a primary, though it’s non-partisan). As you know from my post of September 22, one of the topics that I teach in my Quantitative Reasoning class is… Read More ›
What is “quantitative reasoning”?
If you read this blog regularly, you know that I teach a course with the strange title of “Quantitative Reasoning.” What does that mean? I’ll describe the course in general, followed by specifics of all four units. Generally referred to… Read More ›
Jiffy? Centijiffy? Decijiffy?
“I’ll be with you in a jiffy.” How long is a jiffy? What about a centijiffy? Before we get to the urgent question of how long a jiffy is, I want to comment on a surprising error (or is it… Read More ›
Supreme Musical Artists of the Past Fifty Years
Michael Jackson? Tupac? What do you think — who are the supreme musical artists of the past fifty years? As some of you know, the sophomores of the Crimson Summer Academy vote every summer for which three artists should hold… Read More ›
Stories and tests
Should a math test tell a story? That’s certainly not what most people think a math test should do! Should a course tell a story? More on that tomorrow, but at least I might get a few more takers for… Read More ›
Andrew Yang
It’s too bad he isn’t a very plausible candidate: look at that hat! (If you don’t recognize him, that’s Democratic candidate for president Andrew Yang.)
How many ml in a liter?
So I’m in a certain store in Jamaica Plain today — name kept anonymous to protect the oh-so-innocent — and I ask the clerk if they sell Hennessy Privilege (a cognac, for those of you who don’t know). She says… Read More ›
