How Euler did it: Roots of a polynomial

On the Mathematical Association of America there's a column entitled: "How Euler Did It." The link downloads a PDF file, by the way.

This month, Ed Sandifer writes on a method Euler developed to find a root of a polynomial. The method begins by computing the power series expansion of the reciprocal of the polynomial. Then, we do a partial fraction expansion of this quotient. From the expansion we can set up a recursion. As we iterate the recursion we can find the largest root.

The paper is worth reading.

Eye Sparkle: Attracts female butterflies

Research at the University of Buffalo shows that female butterflies are attracted to the sparkle of the eyespots on male butterflies. It's not how big the spots are, it's how they sparkle.

Heart Disease: Get's worse as you get older

This story from Sciencedaily.com makes little sense to me. A recent study notes that people are at a higher risk of heart disease as they age. I always thought that was the case even before the study. Here's a quote:

"The results of the present investigation confirm that acute HF (Heart Failure) represents a considerable burden to the health of the community, particularly in older individuals. Given the aging of the U.S. population, and declining national death rates due to cardiovascular disease placing these individuals at increased risk for HF during their latter years of life, increasing trends in the magnitude and morbidity of HF are likely to continue for the foreseeable future."

Isn't this well-know already? What's the point to this study? If you know let me know. Thanks.

Numbers in the Wall Street Journal Website

I just signed up for a subscription to the Wall Street Journal on-line edition. I had only visited the site before and saw the headlines, but never could enter the site. Now, I have access and I've found a most delightful column.

The column is:
THE NUMBERS GUY
By CARL BIALIK
and Mr. Bialik goes through various news articles and sites to show how numbers can be misused. If you have access to this site, it's worth a look. If not, I'll quote part of his column below. Look for more quotes as I see them.

--------------- Quote below ------------------

Dean Arthur Schwartzmiller, arrested last month in San Jose, Calif., for alleged sexual abuse of two boys, became the subject of a wider investigation after police found seven log books containing a reported 36,000 entries of sex acts with boys.

It's extremely unlikely that anyone could commit 36,000 acts of sexual abuse -- as Numbers Guy reader Don Fenstermacher pointed out, that would amount to an average of about 2.8 per day since Feb. 12, 1970, when Mr. Schwartzmiller was convicted in Alaska on three counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with three boys. The Daily Herald of Everett, Wash., noted it would take more than two molestations a day over 47 years. Police realized that many of the journal entries could be duplicates, and some may not be describing actual sex acts. "If you assume 10% of them are actual cases, that's 3,600 acts," Lieutenant Scott Cornfield of the San Jose police sexual assault investigations unit told the New York Times last week. "Even if you assume one percent, that's 360 victims." The Times headlined its report, "Child Molester Is Suspected in Hundreds of Cases."

But not all publications were as cautious with the numbers, especially in crafting catchy headlines. Dozens of Web sites headlined an Associated Press report, "Molester Suspected in 36,000 Abuse Cases."

Darwin: You ought to be in pictures. Not.

Seems the radical right is pressuring theaters not to show movies that talk about evolution and Darwin. Evolution is out, intelligent design is in.

Can anyone tell me what intelligent design is? What's the difference between postulating an intelligent designer and postulating God as the creator?

What's more, why is it that religious zealots are so upset over Darwin? He had a theory that sought to explain the origin and development of life. I haven't seen any others that can compete with his so what's the fuss?