...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

Friday, June 3, 2016

A Few Pieces From the Week


Sorry, not sure if it's summer doldrums or just lack of time on my part, but a short potpourri this week:

1)  Ed Frenkel contributed to this week's NY Times "Numberplay" column (on infinity):
http://wordplay.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/05/30/frenkel-cantor/

2)  New from Numberphile:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-M_3oV75Lw

3)  A couple of popular posts about the latest combinatorial proof that 'stunned' mathematicians:
https://www.quantamagazine.org/20160531-set-proof-stuns-mathematicians/
https://socialmathematics.net/2016/06/01/game-set-match/?platform=hootsuite

4)  Math Munch also touched on the 'Set' game proof among its topics in their latest offering:
https://mathmunch.org/2016/06/02/set-ptolemy-and-malin-christersson/

5)  "VSauce" video on the Banach-Tarski paradox (h/t John Allen Paulos):
http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2016/06/the-banachtarski-paradox.html

6)  Space-filling curves video via Aeon:
https://aeon.co/videos/mesmerising-fractals-and-space-filling-curves-give-a-window-into-infinity

Potpourri BONUS! (extra NON-mathematical links of interest):


1)  the amazing Scott Aaronson, with a long, deep piece on his and Roger Penrose's views of AI and consciousness:
http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=2756

2)  ...and everyone knows that Fawn Nguyen writes wonderful stuff on math and teaching... and even more wonderful stuff... on life:
http://fawnnguyen.com/jewish-mother/

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