Recent Posts - page 73

  • 88 Wharf (once again)

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    It was time for dinner yesterday, and what were we going to do? Clearly it was too hot to cook — at least with a kitchen and dining room that aren’t air-conditioned — so it must be time to try… Read More ›

  • SMAPFY

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    “What,” you ask, “is SMAPFY?” I’m sure that is what you’re asking, isn’t it? SMAPFY stands for “Supreme Musical Artists of the Past Fifty Years”; it’s a voting simulation that we have been conducting at the Crimson Summer Academy for the past ten… Read More ›

  • Henrietta’s Table…and a mysterious sign

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    Excellent dinner last night with Barbara, Ellen, Aviva, and Jake at Henrietta’s Table: I had smoked pastrami salmon, duck, broccoli, strawberry cream pie… Of course I had them remove the calories first. Haven’t had duck in months, so it was… Read More ›

  • Back again…

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    I thought I had given up my blog forever. But apparently not. I’ve been persuaded to resume blogging, so stay tuned for further posts…

  • The wrong way to teach math?

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    A headline writer attached this misleading title to an opinion piece in the New York Times last Sunday. My response (this post) is yet another follow-up to the follow-up I posted on February 18. Apparently the issue just won’t go away! Andrew Hacker continues to… Read More ›

  • #JeSuisCirconflexe

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    Surprisingly (perhaps), The Economist is a great source for articles about linguistics. When an article is also about world politics, however, no one is surprised. Yesterday’s issue included a piece with the odd title of “Je suis circonflexe”; what could that possibly be… Read More ›

  • Gaslight

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    Barbara and I just got back from an excellent dinner at Gaslight. Barbara started with a huge shredded beet salad, which she enjoyed but she had to take home more than half of it. I started with the traditional French… Read More ›

  • Don’t do this!

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    So…don’t do this! From Sam Shah:

  • Most

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    We’re having a dispute about the commonly understood meaning of the word “most.” Don’t look it up in a dictionary; just go by your own intuitive definition. Here’s a sample situation: You’re in a gathering of 12 people, with the following… Read More ›

  • Why “x”?

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    If it’s in a TED talk, it’s got to be correct. Right? Actually, not so much. But when the talk is about both math and linguistics, how could I resist? So I just had to watch Terry Moore’s four-minute TED talk… Read More ›

  • Why do you roll your eyes?

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    Don’t bother reading this post if you don’t know any teenagers — or if you never were one yourself. A recent column in the New York Times provides a perspective on understanding a common behavior of teenage girls (and boys…and tweens…). I… Read More ›

  • Who needs algebra? — A follow-up

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    Lucy Brownstein, a high-school student from Brooklyn, wrote a fine response to Andrew Hacker (see my post of February 7). You noticed that I didn’t say something like “a fine response for a high-schooler.” It’s a fine response, period. But still, it’s especially… Read More ›

  • Who needs an accountant?

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    So…why did Barbara and I see our accountant this afternoon, when all we had to do was routine income tax preparation? Several friends and students have asked me why I don’t just do my own tax prep? After all, I’m… Read More ›

  • “Stop humiliating teachers!” writes David Denby.

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    This commentary by David Denby in the New Yorker shouldn’t even be necessary. But of course it is. As everyone knows, the general public (especially, but by no means exclusively, Republicans) have a negative view of public-school teachers. So-called reformers want to… Read More ›

  • Misconceptions

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    You might have some prejudices about Iowa, and you might even have some prejudices about physics teachers, but please ignore them at this point. The ever-interesting Shawn Cornally has written a fascinating post with the title “These Misconceptions Are Keeping School… Read More ›

  • When will the two robots meet?

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    The other day I read an intriguing article in the New York Times about a simulation of two robots moving on model train tracks at the National Museum of Mathematics. Will they ever meet? And why are the robots beavers, when… Read More ›

  • Who needs advanced math?

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    I know, I know…you probably think I got the title of this post from Trophy Wives Don’t Need Advanced Physics, the famous book written by my colleague, Boris Korsunsky. But actually I got it from a column by Jane Karr… Read More ›

  • The Ruling Class

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    Wow! What a great film! How did I miss The Ruling Class during all these years — it was released in 1972! — that was 44 years ago!!! — but I am so glad that I have finally watched it. This over-the-too… Read More ›

  • 17 equations that changed the world

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    I’m sure you’re wondering how there could possibly be 17 equations that changed the world — and what those equations might be. According to Ian Stewart by way of kottke.org, these are the 17: So what do we think of this… Read More ›

  • Talking Right

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    A clever title: “Talking Right.” It deliberately misleads you into thinking that it means “talking correctly,” perhaps with a subtle dig at those who use an adjective where an adverb is supposedly the right form. But that’s not what the… Read More ›