Here's a speech Michel Crichton gave about the state of science and public policy today. I am printing it now and plan to read it over the weekend. It looks really good.
By the way, if anyone is watching the deplorable level of science that our policy makers understand, which is pretty damn close to zero, it's no wonder we have such poor public policy. More on that later.
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Essays on Mathematics: Read any or all
Part of the Mathematics Awareness Month website: Essays on math. Read any; they are all worth your time.
Math Awareness Month
April is Math Awareness Month. It's a great time to be alive!
Cool image, isn't it. Check the site to see what it is.
Cool image, isn't it. Check the site to see what it is.
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Number Theory: It's not cheap
While scanning the Mathematical Association of America site (www.maa.org) I read the review on a new book (5th edition, really) on number theory. I've always been fascinated by this topic and went to buy the book. Based only on the review I was ready to purchase. Then, the price: $115.00 Whoa! That's a bit pricey, indeed. Guess I'll wait to see how the used editions go. Oh well.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Clusters of atoms are new "atoms"
New research shows that clusters of aluminum atoms have properties that would be associated with single atoms. This opens a new area of research.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
What, you need math for that?
I was reading the book: Kepler's Conjecture: How Some of the Greatest Minds in History Helped Solve One of the Oldest Math Problems in the World by George Szpiro this weekend. A friend of mine looked at it, and asked me what it is about. I told him it's how the mathematics community sought to prove that the best way to stack oranges is how your grocer does it. He's retort:
You need math for that?
Seriously, I'm just about finished with the book and it's a *pretty* good read but not extraordinary. Szpiro does a good job of telling the problem, discussing the personalities of the people who've worked to solve the problem and a bit on their approaches. He doesn't weave in the mathematics with the story though and that's a shame. The math is the most interesting part. He does have appendices of the math but I haven't read them yet. As an example of a defficiency in the book, his explanations never (I mean never) refer to the figures he's placed in the text. So while he has figures to help, the reader is left to see where and how a particular figure is related to the explanations. I plan to write more later, but that's a quick review for now.
You need math for that?
Seriously, I'm just about finished with the book and it's a *pretty* good read but not extraordinary. Szpiro does a good job of telling the problem, discussing the personalities of the people who've worked to solve the problem and a bit on their approaches. He doesn't weave in the mathematics with the story though and that's a shame. The math is the most interesting part. He does have appendices of the math but I haven't read them yet. As an example of a defficiency in the book, his explanations never (I mean never) refer to the figures he's placed in the text. So while he has figures to help, the reader is left to see where and how a particular figure is related to the explanations. I plan to write more later, but that's a quick review for now.
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