...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, March 16, 2018

Another Mishmash of Picks from the Week


This week, while the Donald was hearing the ever louder-growing theme from "Jaws" playing in what passes for his brain, I was busy composing another math potpourri:

1)  Fascinating bit on math whiz Erik Dermaine and origami (h/t  Earl Samuelson)

2)  The math of reel-to-reel tapes from the always interesting, unpredictable “DataGenetics” (h/t Patrick Honner):

3)  5 books focussed on women in mathematics:

4)  The logic of “common knowledge” from “Point of Infinity”:

5)  Of course a lot of mathy pieces about the NCAA basketball tournament (“March Madness”) in the last week; this was one of them:

6)  Also, of course, a LOT of posts on Wednesday in honor of Pi Day. This was the take from FiveThirtyEight):

…and for those with some spare time for computing pi out, Ben Orlin offers a few alternative ways to do so:

…OR, if Pi Day leaves you feeling a bit curmudgeonly, then this Evelyn Lamb view may be for you:

7)  That mysterious connection between math, pi, and physics:

8)  Rob Eastaway takes the old, popular 9-dot problem and gives it a fresh look:

9)  Checkers, Chess, Go… now AI is taking on ‘March Madness’:

10)  If it’s assistance in economics research that you’ve been looking for, consider your need filled ;):

11)  ICYMI, last weekend I interviewed blogger Dr. James Dilts:


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

1)  Just one of those weird/fun/quirky stories that we all need just to get through a typical day anymore:

2)  I’ve linked to this TED parody talk before; perhaps worth doing so again:




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