As a teacher, would you prefer hearing from Parent A or Parent B? Parent A: “My ten-year-old finished her calculus course: here is her picture to post on your blog.” Parent B: “My daughter can’t do math, but I told… Read More ›
Math
Math anxiety
When people find out that I’m a math teacher, the most common response among adults over 30 is “I was never any good at math.” An excellent short article in the Harvard Gazette recently explained what’s going on here. The… Read More ›
The solution to that Estonian puzzle
And here is the full solution to the puzzle about telling time in Estonian. First the answers, in case you want to check your answers before following the link to the full solution: Challenge 1a. 9:25b. 11:45c. 2:30d. 3:15e. 6:35… Read More ›
How to tell time (in Estonian, of course)
Alex Bellos, on Atlas Obscura, has written a fine linguistics/math puzzle about telling time in Estonian. No knowledge of Estonian is required (in fact, it would spoil the puzzle), nor is any advanced knowledge of math or linguistics expected. Here… Read More ›
Linguistics/math interface
People keep wondering how I journeyed from linguistics to math. Maybe they’re the same thing:
Gender issues: a perspective from a Russian Jewish mathematician
“My mom used to tell me that most men do not like brainy women,” writes well-known mathematician Tanya Khovanova. Well-known in certain circles, anyway. Female, Russian-American, Jewish—there are a lot of possible identity issues here. I’ve written about Khovanova twice… Read More ›
Wordle, Wheel of Fortune, Jotto, & the Mathematics of Information Theory
Apparently I’m the only person in the world who doesn’t play Wordle. I’m not entirely sure why I don’t, but I can think of a couple of possibilities: it’s far too competitive, it’s far too rigid, and it’s far too… Read More ›
“God created the integers…”
No, it’s not about theology. It’s about math! The title of this book, edited by Stephen Hawking, is the first half of a famous quotation from Leopold Kronecker: “God created the integers, all else is the work of man.” Actually,… Read More ›
Gulp. Are there (were there?) special math problems given only to Jews?
Yes, unfortunately there is (or was?) such a thing. The special problems were, of course, more difficult than the regular math problems. Much more difficult. I learned about this from Tanya Khovanova’s Math Blog, where she explains “how during entrance… Read More ›
Math helps you flourish—but not in the obvious way!
My good friend and colleague Leah Gordon often likes the same books that I do. From time to time we make recommendations to each other. One of these is Francis Su’s Mathematics for Human Flourishing, which I have just finished… Read More ›
Can you multiply 2573 by 389?
Pencil and paper only: can you multiply 2573 by 389? No calculators. And you have to get the right answer, of course. This is not a trick. “Of course I can,” you reply. “That’s a skill one never forgets!” Well,… Read More ›
Why teach gerrymandering? And why teach it in a math course in particular?
Gerrymandering is a hot topic in certain circles. Right now I am in the midst of writing and modifying some gerrymandering activities for my summer course at Crimson Summer Academy (CSA). Although we have taught various voting methods since the… Read More ›
The Complete Guide to Absolutely Everything* (*abridged)
Everyone needs to read this engaging, delightful, and informative book! Read it even if you’re not a math-and-science geek. Or maybe I should say especially if you’re not a math-and-science geek. Geneticist Adam Rutherford and mathematician Hannah Fry are well… Read More ›
Are you smarter than a 7th grader?
Tip of the hat to Tanya Khovanova for sharing this problem: Is it possible to place seven points on a plane so that among any three of them, two will be at distance 1 from each other? This comes from… Read More ›
What lies on the other side of the River Styx?
Who knows? You’ll have to read the engaging novel Across the River Styx to find out. You might have a rough voyage, but the reading won’t be rough. Looking at the cover image below, you’ll see what this novel is:… Read More ›
How does gerrymandering harm you?
Elbridge Gerry has a lot to answer for. As you probably once knew—but have now forgotten—Gerry was vice president of the United States under James Madison, a role for which nobody remembers him (as is the case for most vice… Read More ›
Ayliean (who?)—and her Hitomezashi patterns (what?)
No, I don’t know how to pronounce Ayliean. My Scots Gaelic isn’t what it used to be. (It never was.) And I’m not so sure about Hitomezashi either, as my Japanese isn’t what it used to be. (But I did… Read More ›
Trains, Rock Paper Scissors, & Hannah Fry: What do these three have in common?
How can Rock Paper Scissors (RPS) have a winning strategy? It’s all just luck, isn’ it? Well, no, actually. It’s true that if your opponent plays strictly randomly, then you have no winning strategy. It’s really all just luck. But… Read More ›
Everyone mispronounces omicron! (Well, almost everyone.) And it means more than just a COVID-19 variant…
Right now—with good reason—everyone is focused on Omicron as the name of the new COVID variant. But most people are unsure how to pronounce the word, or they (confidently) mispronounce it. And they also don’t know what it means. I’m… Read More ›
The hidden meaning of crypto
What does the word “crypto” mean to you? For many decades it has been a term of art in applied mathematics—shorthand for both “cryptography” and “cryptology,” being thereby particularly useful for those of us who don’t want to argue about… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 