...a companion blog to "Math-Frolic," specifically for interviews, book reviews, weekly-linkfests, and longer posts or commentary than usually found at the Math-Frolic site.

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"Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty – a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture, without appeal to any part of our weaker nature, without the gorgeous trappings of painting or music, yet sublimely pure, and capable of a stern perfection such as only the greatest art can show." ---Bertrand Russell (1907) Rob Gluck

"I have come to believe, though very reluctantly, that it [mathematics] consists of tautologies. I fear that, to a mind of sufficient intellectual power, the whole of mathematics would appear trivial, as trivial as the statement that a four-legged animal is an animal." ---Bertrand Russell (1957)

******************************************************************** Rob Gluck

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Thanksgiving Approaches


End of year is always a good time for lists (which make for good space-fillers too) ;)
So here a list of some websites I'm especially thankful for -- the math-related writers that excite me most when they show up in my RSS feed (in alphabetical order):

Scott Aaronson — love Scott’s unpredictable topics, his honesty, and step-by-step thought processes (even when I don’t understand half of what he’s laying out). Primarily a computer scientist, he also blogs about math, physics, philosophy, culture, politics, and more:

Keith Devlin — NPR “math guy” (and Stanford professor); love his ability to write about math expertly for a mass audience; long-time favorite at my blog; he has several writing venues, the one below being a main one:

Brian Hayes — award-winning essayist; unpredictable what and when he’ll post; a non-mathematician writing often about quirky, math-related subjects, but crisp and interesting whatever topic he chooses:

Evelyn Lamb — has developed into one of the finest math expositors on the Web, suitable for students and professors alike; again with several outlets, but perhaps the main one below for Scientific American:

Fawn Nguyen — what can I say about Fawn that hasn’t been said long before! I don’t follow a lot of primary/secondary education blogs but always perk up when I see she’s posted a new piece for her “Finding Ways” blog; it’s not even the math I enjoy so much, as her passion and wit! (made all the more delicious, knowing that English wasn’t even her native tongue):

Ben Orlin — never would’ve guessed math could be this funny, let alone cartoonish. Have grown to love Ben’s simple, round-faced offspring; but the amazing thing is not how much they make me laugh, but how regularly they make me think!:

Jim Propp — more strictly mathematical, but often on topics I don’t see elsewhere or at least with a different approach; richer and longer posts than most popular blogs, and almost always including ideas one could use in a classroom:

Quanta Magazine — not a blog, and not exclusively math, but some of the best doggone consistent popular science and math writing anywhere on the Web from a stable of great writers (sometimes I shake my head that we get this for free!):

I hope every one of these is already among your favorites, but if not, be sure to check 'em out. Wish I'd had some of these folks as teachers when I was growing up!
[...And feel free to mention below the Internet blogs/writers you are especially grateful for, or excited by, at this thankful time of year.]


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