Another Round of Math Potpourri

This week's extra servings of mathiness:

1)  Evelyn Lamb... space-filling curves... enough said:
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/roots-of-unity/a-few-of-my-favorite-spaces-space-filling-curves/

2)  For the statistics-inclined out there, Deborah Mayo follows up on p-values, Bayesian analysis, and best practices:
http://tinyurl.com/j2ekvng

3)  Math tool recommendations from a high-schooler:
http://mathbabe.org/2016/04/05/guest-post-useful-math-tools/

4)  Guardian review of new film "The Man Who Knew Infinity":
http://tinyurl.com/zk9z4g8

5)  Steven Strogatz pointed out this "mathematical etudes" site; beautiful Russian animations (no voiceover) of many mathematical ideas:
http://www.etudes.ru/en/

6)  Online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a new entry on "supertasks":
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spacetime-supertasks/

7)   This week Ben Orlin (and his little round friends) regaled us with fractions and their relationships:
http://mathwithbaddrawings.com/2016/04/06/the-accidental-fraction-brainbuster/

8)  John Allen Paulos recently interviewed via YouTube mostly on one of his older books:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FYf7z0_zMM&feature=youtu.be

9)  If you're not already aware of "The Global Math Project" you may wish to check it out here:
https://www.theglobalmathproject.org/

10)  Finally, weird little article on "trypophobia" (fear of holes; yup you read that right); just squeaks onto my list here because of a purported connection to mathematics:
https://theconversation.com/trypophobia-the-fear-of-holes-driven-by-the-internet-and-mathematics-56928


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

1)  Buzzfeed story (from Peter Aldous & Charles Seife) on Government aerial surveillance of cities and citizens:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/peteraldhous/spies-in-the-skies

2)  Are we real or are we virtual... a recent conference of physicists debated:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-we-living-in-a-computer-simulation/

The First Annual (maybe, only) MathTango Awards!!

There are certain math/science sites, writers etc. that I especially look forward to visiting. They deserve special recognition! And we all love awards ceremonies, right, so without further adieu... the awarding of Sheckies!: ;-))

1)  For popular science writing in a magazine format.... the Sheckie goes to:  Quanta Magazine

https://www.quantamagazine.org/

Of the dozen or more online sites I follow offering regular science writing (with a strong math/physics bent) in a magazine-like format, Quanta is almost in a league of its own, for clarity, consistency, visual appeal, and a stable of superb writers.  So Quanta Magazine, and all those associated with it, CONGRATULATIONS, and keep up the fab work!

2)  For popular mathematics publishing.... a Sheckie for:  Princeton University Press

http://press.princeton.edu/

The more I read, the more I appreciate the behind-the-scenes work of good editors, who really make the books we enjoy so enjoyable! They too-often go unsung. Several major presses regularly publish popular math works, but for consistency, presentation quality, and engaging the reader, Princeton readily tops my list here, and I often wonder, when reading math volumes from other publishers, what could Princeton have done with this!

3)  For science and thought-provoking writing in a blog.... this 2016 Sheckie to:  Shtetl-Optimized (Scott Aaronson)

http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/

I get feeds for ~200 math and science-related blogs that I regularly enjoy (a small sampling of what's out there)... still, there are only a few blogs that stand out consistently for their overall quality, range, depth, sincerity, insight, novelty, stimulating discussions and comments (and I say that even though there is plenty Scott writes about that I can't even comprehend). There is no blog I look forward to more than Aaronson's Shtetl-Optimized.
As an honorable mention here though I'll also note Brian Hayes' quirky, unpredictable, fun and always-interesting "Bit Player" blog: http://bit-player.org/

4)  For establishing a niche blog serving a long-needed function (reporting on fraudulent, plagiarized, erroneous, and otherwise retracted research; i.e. trying to keep science honest!), and doing it so well.... a Sheckie to Ivan Oransky and his Retraction Watch team:

http://retractionwatch.com/

This one will be no surprise to long-time readers:
5)  Specifically for popular mathematics-writing.... a Sheckie to:  Keith Devlin
 
For wonderful shorter pieces, two of Dr. Devlin's main blogs are here:

http://devlinsangle.blogspot.com/
http://profkeithdevlin.org/

And a list of his prolific books over the years at Amazon here:
http://www.amazon.com/Keith-Devlin/e/B000APRPC6

(he's also the math-guy on NPR radio as well)

Sometimes I feel I become an even bigger fan of Keith's with each new piece of his that I read. Maybe when Steven Strogatz or Jordan Ellenberg have a dozen+ books under their belt my choice will shift, but for now, once again for clear, incisive, instructive, thoughtful, logical math communication a big appreciative nod to Dr. Devlin.

6)  Finally, an easy one to give out, for popular presentation of mathematics in a video format.... this Sheckie to those wonderful folks at Numberphile:

https://www.youtube.com/user/numberphile/featured

They just keep churning out good, varied, high-quality, entertaining, educational math videos... really an outstanding body-of-work!

Anyway, applause for everyone! (next year I'll try to get Billy Crystal to host)
... and what prizes will all these fine winners receive:

....drrr-r-r-r-r-r-r-rumroll.....       

uhhhh, bragging rights to recognition from this teeny corner of the blogosphere....
(and, a Sheckie may be in the mail... or, NOT)

But seriously, so much great stuff out there; had to take a moment to recognize some of it!


[pics via WikimediaCommons]

Some of What Math-Frolic Didn't Cover This Week

  In case you missed any of these from the week:

1)  "Gödel's Last Letter..." blog weighs in on the recently-reported prime last-digit anomaly:
https://rjlipton.wordpress.com/2016/03/26/bias-in-the-primes/?platform=hootsuite

2)  Craig Knecht's work with 'magic squares' via Futility Closet:
www.futilitycloset.com/2016/03/27/magic-space/

3)  An explanation of quantum computing:
http://www.thestatesman.com/news/supplements/simplifying-a-complex-challenge/133160.html

4)  New AMS tribute to Grothendieck (pdf):
http://www.ams.org/publications/journals/notices/201604/rnoti-p401.pdf

5)  Evelyn Lamb reviews Andrew Hacker's latest and concludes, "It Doesn't Add Up":
http://tinyurl.com/zb83c9g
...and has a further followup here:
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/roots-of-unity/andrew-hacker-and-the-case-of-the-missing-trigonometry-question/

6)  Ben Orlin employs a mathematical magnifying glass to solve a problem:
http://mathwithbaddrawings.com/2016/03/30/a-new-favorite-puzzle/

7)   More beautiful math explication from Erica Klarreich in Quanta (this time on high-dimensional sphere-packing):
https://www.quantamagazine.org/20160330-sphere-packing-solved-in-higher-dimensions/

8)  Nalini Joshi talks about life as a female academic (mathematician) in Australia (...but probably applies most places):
http://tinyurl.com/zufchp8

9)  Andrew Gelman offers a modicum of advice to young researchers amidst the current quandary of journal publication and statistical methods:
http://andrewgelman.com/2016/03/31/greshams-law-of-experimental-methods/

10)  Pradeep Mutalik attempts to clarify the controversial 'Sleeping Beauty Paradox':
https://www.quantamagazine.org/20160331-why-sleeping-beauty-is-lost-in-time/

11)  And lastly, for something completely different, mathematics meets slam poetry:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-01/poetic-mathematician-brings-unique-style-to-australia/7291246


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

1)  Animals keeping the beat:
https://www.quantamagazine.org/20160322-the-beasts-that-keep-the-beat/

2)  Recently, TEDRadioHour re-ran this fascinating account of amazing information-gathering:
http://www.npr.org/2016/03/18/470514319/how-can-hidden-sounds-be-captured-by-everyday-objects

Weekly Look-back

For your weekend reading:

1)  Interview with John Baez (mathematical-physics stuff), in two parts:
https://johncarlosbaez.wordpress.com/2016/03/18/interview-part-1/
https://johncarlosbaez.wordpress.com/2016/03/21/interview-part-2/

...AND John has a fascinating little post on "common prime gaps" at "n-category Cafe" here:
https://golem.ph.utexas.edu/category/2016/03/the_most_common_prime_gaps.html

2)  For those into foundational issues, "Logic Matters" reports that philosopher Penelope Maddy (who I interviewed here last year) has a new paper available for download:
http://www.logicmatters.net/2016/03/21/penelope-maddy-on-set-theoretic-foundations/

3)  Plenty more links at the new (132nd) "Carnival of Mathematics":
http://mathlesstraveled.com/2016/03/21/carnival-of-mathematics-132/

4)  In this time of routine math-education criticism, another British piece "In Defence of Maths":
https://theconversation.com/in-defence-of-maths-56380

5)  John Cook offers an introductory take on category theory:
http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2016/03/22/categorical-products/

6)  Mike Lawler touts sphere-packing in 8 dimensions as a problem worth sharing with the public:
https://mikesmathpage.wordpress.com/2016/03/22/a-challenge-for-professional-mathematicians/

(of course this is only one of the 127 new videos Mike put up on his site this week.... ok, so I exaggerate a little -- actually, as referenced at Math-Frolic**, I'm even more intrigued by a post of Mike's that includes no video)

7)  This week Ben Orlin counsels us on fractions versus decimals, and doesn't hesitate to throw in bad drawings along the way:
http://mathwithbaddrawings.com/2016/03/23/decimal-crazed-lunatics/

8)  Nassim Taleb uploads a YouTube clip on "Meta-Distribution of Standard P-Values":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qrfSh07rT0

You can also subscribe to his YouTube channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8uY6yLP9BS4BUc9BSc0Jww

9)  Vi Hart recommends this new Numberphile video on polytopes in higher dimensions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s4TqVAbfz4&feature=youtu.be

10)  An interesting Nature Backchat podcast this week, including several math-related topics:
http://www.acast.com/nature/natureextra-backchatmarch2016?autoplay

11)  Doron Zeilberger ruminates on checkers, chess, Go... and pure math:
http://www.math.rutgers.edu/~zeilberg/Opinion149.html

12)  ICYMI, last weekend I interviewed Katie Steckles of The Aperiodical HERE, and if you want to hear Katie's British accent (and see her purple hair), plus Magazine just ran a quick video with her yesterday talking about creativity in math:
https://plus.maths.org/content/mathematical-moments-katie-steckles


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

1)  Fascinating health tale from a neuroscientist recently in NY Times:
http://tinyurl.com/hlgztrd

2)  OK singles, if you're still using Tinder or OK Cupid, you are SOOOOO yesterday... get with the current program for gosh-sakes:
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/love-armpit-new-york-s-smell-dating-n544916

** Please will SOMEone explain this, before it drives me, and/or Mike, batty.

Katie Steckles... Finding and Sharing Cool Math!

 Math-Frolic Interview #36

 "I just relentlessly want to share with people the things that I find cool. We do MathsJam, which is maths in a pub, and people just bring things to play with. I like it when maths just happens. You’re just getting on with your life, and then suddenly there’s some maths. You’re like, oh, there’s some maths! It’s just fantastic."  -- Katie Steckles (from an older interview with Evelyn Lamb)


If you follow the online math world, one of many Brits you'll run into is 'relentlessly' enthusiastic Dr. Katie Steckles, who runs the monthly "Carnival of Math," as just one of her many projects. Definitely check out her homepage (listed below) to see all the mathy things she is up to! But somehow, I got her to sit still long enough to tell us a little bit more about her math world.
-----------------------------------------------

1)  Please tell us whatever is pertinent in your background that brought you to mathematics and blogging? When did you know you wished to be a mathematician, and what is your current professional position? 

I chose my subject to study at A-level (age 16-18) because I was thinking about going into medicine, but having studied maths at that level I found it really interesting, so I changed my plans to do a degree in maths, and then went on to a PhD. I’ve always found I was good at it, and I love solving puzzles and working things out so it makes sense as a subject for me. I now work full-time as a freelance maths speaker, doing talks in schools and at science festivals, as well as YouTube videos, podcasts, and occasional other outreach projects. I find that blogging works well alongside this, as it means I can try out ways of explaining things, and research topics that I can then use for other things. It also means I feel like I’m still up-to-date with the latest goings-on in maths research.

2)  You're involved in SO MANY different things I'll let you list all the places you'd want readers to look for you or your work (Twitter, Facebook, blogs, YouTube, other websites/homepages, Google+....)?

I’m on Twitter as @stecks, and I blog at aperiodical.com. I have a YouTube channel at youtube.com/user/st3cks, although it doesn’t have much on it -- most of my videos are on the Numberphile channel (for now -- I’m working on some more!). I have a homepage at katiesteckles.co.uk that lists all the stuff I’m doing. 

3)  At one time you were involved with "math busking" (taking math to the streets for any-and-all interested folks) in Britain, which always sounded like a lot of fun, and something we don't do in the U.S. But I haven't heard much about it lately; is it still happening (and if not why not)? Are you involved? Anything else you care to say about how fun, effective, or difficult it is to do?

The Maths Busking project is still going on, and they’ve trained a large team of people to do it - although I do still occasionally do events with them, and it’s a real challenge talking to people one-on-one, or in small groups, or even with larger crowds because you have to keep their attention and be engaging or else they’ll walk away. We’ve done it on the street, at science festivals, and as cabaret entertainment at dinner events. Buskers, like maths teachers, often face a disinterested or occasionally hostile audience, and many of the techniques they employ can be useful in finding ways to get maths across. It’s about choosing topics carefully and keeping things engaging, and leaving with a positive message. It also stemmed from the idea of things which people hear and want to repeat or show others, like a joke or a simple trick, and maths people often share such things with each other at conferences and so on. Maths Busking is a great way to share little nuggets of maths that you hope people will pass on to others too.

4)  I'm always struck by the number of excellent math communicators heralding from Britain (out-of-proportion to the nation's size) -- even my favorite U.S. math writer, Keith Devlin, is originally British! Just curious if you see any reason why the British education system produces so many good math writers/lecturers? (and I ask that, in part, because I read Brits complaining about their math education almost as much as Americans complain about theirs!)

I suspect that people complaining about their childhood maths teacher is a universal thing, although possibly not always justified -- it’s often the case that kids go into maths lessons expecting it to be difficult or boring, because of what the general attitude to maths is in society, and that can set you up to fail -- and it happens everywhere. I think the UK does well partly because we have a really rich maths research community and lots of cool people actively doing maths; I think there’s also a strong community of outreach in the UK compared to other countries, not just in maths but across science, and there’s a lot more science programming on TV at a reasonable level, good science magazines and lots of celebrities openly interested in science, so there’s a real culture of public engagement with science and maths. Maybe this means more people do well at writing and talking about maths, because of the large number of good communicators.

[Listen up America; WE need MORE of this!]

5)  What are some of your own favorite math reads that you'd recommend to other math fans (books or blogs or anything else)?

I have a whole shelf of maths books (and hardly enough time to read them) - although some of my favourite writers are Ian Stewart, Alex Bellos, Simon Singh (whose books I’ve read since I was a kid) and Richard Elwes -- I also like Jordan Ellenberg’s latest book, and I should probably mention Matt Parker’s book which is excellent (although I did help with some of his proof-reading and fact-checking, and I get mentioned in the acknowledgements, so that sort of doesn’t count).

6)  As a female in a still male-dominated field, did you meet any major barriers along your pathway to mathematics? From your experience, do you have any 'words-of-wisdom' or recommendations for other females starting out on a mathematics journey?

I don’t think I’ve ever felt like being female has been a disadvantage, although I do wonder if anything would have been different if I were male -- I sometimes found myself questioning whether I was good enough to be doing maths research, in a way that I rarely saw my male colleagues openly doing, although in private conversations it turns out everyone thinks that at least some of the time. I understand that ‘impostor syndrome’ is an issue that’s known to disproportionately affect females, and I imagine it stems partly from the way women and men are taught is the correct way to behave -- to be polite and modest, or to be manly and self-confident, both of which can be harmful if taken too seriously. I volunteer with a local group in Manchester, called Manchester Girl Geeks, and we try to provide an environment for people who want to be geeky and play with maths and computers, especially if they feel less free to do that because they’re female (we’ve had attendees who go to all-girls schools which don’t offer computer science as a subject option, and helped them find external tutors and friends to share their hobby with). It’s definitely better now than it’s been in the past, but there’s still a way to go before everyone stops seeing maths, and computer science especially, as being ‘for boys’. I’d say that since I don’t have much direct experience of being disadvantaged by my gender (I have been lucky to have parents who encouraged me whatever I wanted to do, and an older brother into computers as a major role model), I don’t have any particularly good advice for women who want to go into it other than to follow what you love and don’t let anyone sway you from it if it’s what you want to do. And, enjoy the shorter queues for the bathroom in your department :)

7)  Your popular "Aperiodical" blog has been around for awhile now, covering a very wide range of topics, and always seems a fun group of folks to work with.  Are there any 'behind-the-scenes' stories from putting out such a blog over several years that readers might find funny or entertaining?

It’s great working with other bloggers, as it really takes the pressure off you for feeling like you need to constantly be producing content; it also means we can proof-read and check each other’s work. I’m grateful to Christian for being a massive pedant and correcting all our typesetting gaffes, and to Peter for always being keen to have well-sourced facts and driving that. I’m not sure what my main contribution is -- maybe it’s ideas, since I am such a magpie for fun interesting bits of maths, but we all bring things along that we want to write about, and then it’s a toss-up as to who has enough free time to make it happen. We’ve done some pieces that we’ve all worked on together, and plenty of individual stuff, but it always really feels like a collaboration and I’m glad people enjoy it. Since we recently set up a Slack channel to keep in closer touch (previously we had increasingly irregular Skype chats, but we’re all doing this in our spare time and as we’re all busier it’s more difficult to find time when we’re all free, so Slack works well), there’s often times when we all come in at the same time to say ‘did you see this news’, so we’re all keeping an eye out and hopefully keeping on top of the latest maths gossip. We also encourage each other to write our own feature pieces, plus I keep a regular Puzzlebomb schedule, and supervise the Carnival of Maths there, so there’s always something going on.

8)  Anything else you'd want to pass along to a captive audience of math enthusiasts?

If you enjoy it, keep doing it, and share it with others -- show someone else your favourite maths trick/puzzle/joke/theorem, and spread the love!

-----------------------------------------------

Thanks Katie for fleshing out who you are a bit more for all of us, and for contributing so much to the online world of our favorite (or, as you say, favourite) subject! 

If by some slim chance you're a reader unfamiliar with Dr. Steckles' work be sure to check out several of the above links.

 

Potpourri

This week's miscellany:

1)  John Baez with lots of good notes/links on category theory:
https://johncarlosbaez.wordpress.com/2016/03/11/category-theory-course-notes/

2)  A series of lectures on the Langlands program from Ed Frenkel:
http://www.msri.org/web/msri/scientific/workshops/other-workshops/frenkel-langlands

3)  Tim Gowers' response to some of the recent popular press criticism of math education in Britain:
http://tinyurl.com/hx2qmbv

4)  Yeah, yeah, we had another Pi Day (...seems to happen every year about this time!), and plenty of postings, of which I'll just mention two (Vi Hart & Ben Orlin):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vydPOjRVcSg&feature=youtu.be
http://mathwithbaddrawings.com/2016/03/14/the-pi-day-recipe-book/

5)  Everyone probably knows by now that Andrew Wiles just won the Abel Prize, but ICYMI The Aperiodical covered some of the other mathematical awards given out of late:
http://aperiodical.com/2016/03/awards-season/

6)  Chalkdust issue #3 now out:
https://issuu.com/chalkdust/docs/chalkdust-issue-03/1?e=16395586/34110195

7)  Peter Cameron reviews the new Ramanujan biopic:
https://cameroncounts.wordpress.com/2016/03/16/the-man-who-knew-infinity/

8)  Another fantastic post from James Propp (this time on intuition, proof,... and discomfort):
https://mathenchant.wordpress.com/2016/03/16/believe-it-then-dont-toward-a-pedagogy-of-discomfort/

9)  Over at FiveThirtyEight blog this followup discussion to AlphaGo's thrashing of a human Go player:
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/dont-forget-humans-created-the-computer-program-that-can-beat-humans-at-go/

10)  ICYMI, I reported some of the links for the big prime number story of the week in this earlier post at Math-Frolic:
http://math-frolic.blogspot.com/2016/03/story-of-week-and-its-only-tuesday.html

...and be sure to return here on Sunday when I'll have up another Math-Frolic Interview, this time with a major math enthusiast from the other side of the pond as they say (no, no, not Andrew Wiles, but still a good one).

Lastly, my sympathies to all those who's March Madness brackets are already in a shambles, but as bracketologist Tim Chartier tweets, "Let go of perfection and embrace the Madness."


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

1)  A fascinating little ecological mystery from Ed Yong in Atlantic Magazine this week:
http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/03/mysterious-fairy-circles-australia-namibia/473625/

2)  Fine interview over at Retraction Watch with John Ioannidis on supposed "evidence-based medicine":
http://retractionwatch.com/2016/03/16/evidence-based-medicine-has-been-hijacked-a-confession-from-john-ioannidis/

Weekly Roundup...

More math news from the week:

1)  Another piece on the popularity of 'math circles':
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/time_and_learning/2016/03/so_what_exactly_is_a_math_circle.html?cmp=SOC-SHR-TW

2)  Jason Rosenhouse on the hoopla over Andrew Hacker:
http://scienceblogs.com/evolutionblog/2016/03/07/on-teaching-math/

3)  Ben Orlin explains, as only he might, why you need math (though I'm not sure Andrew Hacker will be persuaded):
http://mathwithbaddrawings.com/2016/03/09/why-you-need-math-a-guide/

4)  "An Interesting Approach to Logarithms" via Stephen Cavadino:
https://cavmaths.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/an-interesting-approach-to-logarithms/

5)  Writing on music, mathematics, sewing... or whatever, Evelyn Lamb is consistently good:
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/roots-of-unity/how-to-sew-like-a-mathematician/

6)  With NCAA 'March Madness' rapidly approaching, Davidson's Tim Chartier will again be much in demand:
http://tinyurl.com/jjmv3b4
...and a bit directly from Tim here:
 https://wallethub.com/blog/march-madness-big-data/19869/

7)  A short primer on Peano axioms and their translation into music here!:
http://thatsmaths.com/2016/03/10/peano-music/

8)  In conjunction with upcoming Pi Day (3/14), Pizza Hut is doing a special promotion that pizza-loving mathematicians ought check out:
http://tinyurl.com/gn7o6wy

...speaking of pi, Numberphile just tweeted out its pi video collection:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4870492ACBDC2E7C

9)  New book from Stephen Stigler, "The Seven Pillars of Statistical Wisdom," seems to be getting some good buzz lately (and it certainly couldn't be more timely; see #11 below):
http://tinyurl.com/zlvrv2b

10)  If these aren't enough links for ya, MathMama has plenty more to recommend:
http://mathmamawrites.blogspot.com/2016/03/a-huge-bunch-of-lovely-links.html

11)  and ICYMI, I gave a series of links on the current statistical "crisis" in psychology in an earlier post at Math-Frolic this week -- I really DO hope most readers will take the time to read these links (preferably in the order I've listed them), on a topic of high importance:
http://math-frolic.blogspot.com/2016/03/lies-damned-lies-and.html

12)  ADDENDUM:  yet another great posting from Gelman today on the question, "how can I be so sure that statistical incompetence is the norm, not an aberration?":
http://andrewgelman.com/2016/03/11/statistics-is-like-basketball-or-knitting/


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

1)  Maria Popova ("Brainpickings") focuses on the views of Freeman Dyson:
http://tinyurl.com/gnp8vpd

2)  And just to get your pulse going for the weekend... it's old footage, but I only recently saw this dog-dressed-as-a-giant-spider prank when someone newly-tweeted it:
https://twitter.com/TheWorldOfFunny/status/703277064850432000

...sweet dreams

More Goodies From the Week...

In the event you need to cleanse yourself with some mathematics after last night's Republican sandbox fight:

1)  With Pi Day (3/14) approaching, one blogger offers a list of links appropriate to the celebration:
http://mathematicalmysterytour.blogspot.com/2016/03/resources-preparing-for-pi-day.html

2)  Keith Devlin reviews Andrew Hacker's new volume, "The Math Myth":
http://devlinsangle.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-math-myth-that-permeates-math-myth.html

...NPR also covered the topic, which as usual generated a lot of comments:
http://tinyurl.com/zpqlptt

3)  And of course Keith and Andrew aren't the only folks discussing math education these days... here's Ben Orlin's recent take on the topic, with caricatures that probably speak to a lot of us:
http://mathwithbaddrawings.com/2016/03/02/why-the-math-curriculum-makes-no-sense/

4)  An older post on Bayesian analysis that Mike Lawler tweeted a link to during the week:
http://varianceexplained.org/r/empirical_bayes_baseball/

5)  Solely for those interested in set theory, this video (and YouTube channel) on semantics and set theory (h/t to Steven Pinker for this one):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1l3C_hmjqM

6)  Andrew Gelman again addressing psychology research and significance testing:
http://tinyurl.com/jsga4t3

 ...AND further followup post on the "replication crisis" in psychology:
http://andrewgelman.com/2016/03/03/more-on-replication-crisis/

7)  While it never mentions the phrase, I can't help but think this brief piece in Nautilus says something about the mathematically-controversial notion of having a "hot hand":
http://nautil.us/issue/33/attraction/how-to-learn-to-love-to-practice

“Being in the zone” or “in a groove,” or 'entering a state of flow' or simply "flow state," are all referenced in this psychology piece that touches on the elusive quality which most of us bear witness to, yet some statisticians have tried to debunk.

8)  Some mathematical physics from Michael Atiyah, via Quanta Magazine:
https://www.quantamagazine.org/20160303-michael-atiyahs-mathematical-dreams/

9)  In a post somewhat typifying his eclectic writing style in "Mathematics Without Apologies" (which I liked, but may drive some readers batty! ;-) Michael Harris closely analyzes a single "gendered" anecdote from the book:
http://tinyurl.com/zeguybj

10)  The number 15 has now been successfully factored... by quantum computing:
https://cosmosmagazine.com/physical-sciences/will-quantum-computer-take-down-internet-banking

11)  A reminder that Mike Lawler posts almost daily videos of young folks thinking mathematically at MikesMathPage:
https://mikesmathpage.wordpress.com/

12)  ICYMI, last weekend I talked with math podcaster/storyteller Samuel Hansen for Math-Frolic Interview #35:
http://mathtango.blogspot.com/2016/02/samuel-hansen-telling-math-stories.html

...and over at another blog, an interview with mathematician Richard Nowakowski:
https://anthonybonato.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/interview-with-a-mathematician-richard-j-nowakowski/


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

1)  A very powerful, unsettling hour of NPR's This American Life last week (on rape cases):
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/581/anatomy-of-doubt

2)  I don't usually follow a theme in the "bonus" links, let alone a despondent theme, but this week I will, with Lady Gaga's performance of "'Til It Happens to You" at the Academy Awards, for any who missed it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZhsJ1saExI

Samuel Hansen... Telling Math Stories

Math-Frolic Interview #35

"We need to tell more stories. Mathematics is awesome... Stories are a central part of all of our lives for a reason and it is time we start using them in mathematics." -- Samuel Hansen

Samuel Hansen is a very busy guy, especially with the 3rd season of his math podcast, Relatively Prime... but still found time to answer some questions from me for a Math-Frolic Interview. If you wish to see some more of what Samuel has been, and is involved with, check out his home page here:
http://www.samuelhansen.com/

(p.s. -- this interview came together a bit hastily in the last few days; please let me know ASAP if any links below are nonworking/broken.)

--------------------------------------------

1)  Per usual, I’ll let you fill us in a little on what your path to mathematics was like (including when did math first strike your interest, and when did you know you would pursue it professionally)? And what is your current position?

Mathematics and I are old friends. While my father has been a farmer my whole life, before I was born he was a high school mathematics teacher (and a quite gifted one too according to the former students of his I have spoken with). He did his best to convey to me the joy of mathematics at an early age and it turns out mathematics and I got on really well.

We drifted apart for a while, but after I graduated high school and before I went to college (that is a whole different story) I found myself attending a very very dull town council meeting where my father had been invited to talk about running farmers markets. This was before smart phones and I did not bring a book so I had nothing to do. Soon I found myself scribbling equations on the back of a paper plate, trying to remember the rules of Calculus I had learned two years before. It was on the ride home from that meeting when I told my father I wanted to study mathematics in college.

A couple of degrees later and I am now the producer and host of Relatively Prime a podcast featuring the coolest stories from the mathematical domain. We have released two seasons so far and are raising money on Kickstarter to fund a third.

2)  I notice you have a BS and an MS in mathematics, so naturally curious what stopped you from going on for the PhD., or are you still thinking about it?

The short version: While I was getting my Masters I realized that as much as I enjoyed doing mathematics, I love talking about it way more.

The long version: I am a completely functional mathematician. I don’t doubt if I went to get my PhD I would survive the exams and write a fine dissertation with some interesting but not groundbreaking mathematics. Then I would go on to a career where I would get things published and be a good enough teacher that my students would not be disappointed they took a class from me, but I really would not leave much of an impact on the world. It would have been a comfortable life. As a mathematical communicator and podcaster I really believe I have the ability to have a real influence on the world. It is not an easy life. I am constantly scrounging around for opportunities and money and audience, but given the choice between comfortable and unspectacular versus hard and influential I will always choose the latter.

3)  You’ve done a lot with podcasting. Tell whatever background you want readers to know of your history with math podcasts prior to your current endeavor:

I was an early adopter when it came to listening to podcasts; I want to say I started listening in around 2005, and when I was applying for graduate schools I went looking around for a podcast which could give me a sense of what I was getting myself into. I didn’t find anything. There were a couple of shows The Math Factor and Travels in a Mathematical World, but neither gave me what I was looking for and once you identify a problem it is up to you to fix it. So after taking some time to settle into graduate school I started my first podcast, Combinations and Permutations. It was very much a product of its era. Most of the podcasts I knew at the time consisted of a few friends sitting around a table making vulgar pop culture jokes, and C-and-P was no different. Well it was a little different I guess, as while it was still full of vulgar pop culture jokes each episode did technically focus on some mathematical topic. It may sound silly, but it was so much fun to do. So much fun in fact that I soon started a second podcast: Strongly Connected Components. SCC was much more serious and featured interviews with people who lived mathematical lives. Then on SCC I interviewed Peter Rowlett and he soon approached me with the idea for a weekly math news show and Math/Maths was born. There were some other shorter run shows in there too, but C-and-P, SCC, and Math/Maths were the big ones before I started Relatively Prime.

4)  And now about your current endeavor, “Relatively Prime”...:

I like to say Relatively Prime was started in a supernova of ego where I listened to Radiolab, This American Life, On the Media, and Snap Judgement, and thought I can do that. Really it was a bit more complicated, but not much. I was coming close to graduating with my Masters and I did not know what I was going to do next. I knew I wasn’t going to pursue a PhD and no industry position sounded interesting so I decided that the idea I had for a public radio style show about mathematics I had bouncing around head was worth pursuing. I put the project up on Kickstarter and on the final day it got funded. Then around a year later I released the first season. I had gone way over budget and had made plenty of mistakes (including an over 70 hour bus ride from Baltimore to Edmonton), but I loved what I had made and was super proud to have people listening to it. I then proceeded to get a job as a data analyst at a software company because it turns out credit card companies won’t take pride as payment. I never stopped thinking about doing more shows though and in 2014 was in a position again where I could try another Kickstarter to fund Season 2. It was funded and I just released the final episode of the 2nd season. It featured stories about cold war surveillance, whether or not you should go to El Farol Bar on a Thursday, why you might want to think about cities as if they were fractals, mathematical mime and some really cool mathematical audio sketches.

I am now trying to raise the money to fund the 3rd season. You can pledge to support the telling of more mathematical stories on Kickstarter.

5) “Relatively Prime” is in its 3rd season… how has it evolved along the way, and what’s in store in upcoming episodes? Also, what are some of your own favorite past episodes that you’d want to point readers to?

Season 3, if it gets funded, is going to be so great. It will feature stories about the favorite mechanical calculator of many rally car racers, how a lottery for licenses to run marijuana shops was designed, the number system which broke algebra free from the shackles of arithmetic, and how network science can help us better understand caner. Plus many many many more stories.

Season 3 will also be the first season where Relatively Prime will be released monthly. Meaning if everyone reading this tosses in a few bucks and I get to make the show the first episode will come out on March 31st and then there will be another amazing episode of mathematical stories every month for a whole year. It will also be the first time I will be working with collaborators, like Anna and Annie from The Other Half podcast, to help me bring a greater diversity of voices and stories to the show.

As for some favorite past episodes, well I have plenty. The coolest story I have ever had the luck to stumble on was definitely Chinook from the first season. It is the story of the AI which defeated the game of checkers and it features hubris, rivalry, and death (really, there is death). It is such a wonderful story. I am also super proud of the gerrymandering story and the interview I did with science fiction author Ted Chiang which was accompanied by a reading of his amazing short story Division by Zero, were really highlights for me of Season 2.

6)  Is there anyone you’d love to have on a podcast that you’ve never had? And more imaginatively, if you could wave a magic wand and interview any (deceased) mathematician from the past, who might be your first choice?

I keep on knocking names off my all-timer list, but there are some I am working on still that I won’t mention here. The one I will mention is Terry Tao. I have been trying to interview Terry for nearly 7 years now and I have never had any luck, so if anyone out there could connect us that would be amazing.
[YO Terry, are you listenin'? -- OK, I'm pretty certain Terry doesn't read my blog, but maybe somebody knows somebody who knows somebody who...]

As for anyone ever... Well of course of the greats, Gauss and Euler come to mind, and I would love to do a gotcha interview with Newton about how big a jerk he was, not to mention how much I would love to hear Erdös’s stories first-hand, and who wouldn’t want to give Fermat a sheet of paper bigger than a book’s margin and ask him what he was going to write. All of that said none of them would be my first choice, that would be Émilie du Châtelet. A woman who was the equal, let's be honest the better, of all the other minds around; she led a life which would guarantee not only an amazing story about mathematics, but an insight into the problems with diversity we still suffer from today. Plus, anyone who could hold their own with Voltaire would definitely be a great interview.

[a fascinating choice!]

7)   I honestly find very little time anymore for math podcasts (or even lengthy videos), and I think that’s a pretty common dilemma for folks these days with SOOO much digital material out there and limited time. So I guess I wonder how much you struggle with keeping material rich and engaging, yet not so long and in-depth as to lose audience attention, for lack of time?

May I suggest listening at double speed? It is how I keep up with things.
[thanks, I wasn't aware of this option!]

Honestly I don’t think about it in those terms. I live and breathe the stories on my show and if I still find them engaging by the time I am ready to hit publish I feel that is a decent barometer for whether or not my audience will connect with the stories.

Fighting for people’s attention will always be a losing battle. Information and media does not go away. And not only does it not go away, we are every day creating more things for people to consume and tons of it is awesome. I just try to make things I personally find interesting and worth listening to, and hope people agree and listen.

8)  Anything else you care to say to a captive audience of math enthusiasts?

We need to tell more stories. Mathematics is awesome. We already know this and since we know it is awesome we often try and convince people by showing them awesome things it can do. The problem is the people who do not already know mathematics is awesome won’t really get it when we just show them awesome mathematics. If we tell them a story about where the mathematics came from and what it will mean on the other hand we can hook them. If we can show them mathematics is a human endeavor done by beings who are definitely just like them and not weird number-crunching robots in ivory towers then they will start to engage with our beloved subject. Stories are a central part of all of our lives for a reason and it is time we start using them in mathematics.

Oh, and please back my Kickstarter. Or at least watch the video, it is animated and a ton of fun.

9)  And final questions:
     a) are you related to the investigative journalist Chris Hansen (and how often do 
     you get asked that question)? ;-)

No, and this is the first time.

     b) you list one of your interests as, “brewing and roasting decaffeinated coffee” -- 
     so what ya got against caffeine, and how do you do so many projects without it!?

I gave up caffeine on my 19th birthday. I had a real problem when it came to the amount I would consume and it had started to have deleterious effects on my health. I refused to give up coffee though. This meant I drank a lot of terrible coffee, but thankfully coffee’s 3rd wave has made my life immeasurably better by making amazing decaf coffee available almost everywhere I travel. Of course being an obsessive, getting great coffee at coffee shops was not enough for me so I started buying and roasting my own coffee and even took some barista classes so I could make truly delectable cups whenever I wanted. If you ever need to know where the best cup of decaf is in most major US cities hit me up on Twitter, @Samuel_Hansen and I will let you know where to go.

--------------------------------------------

Okay, I'm still not sure how you get all this accomplished without caffeine, but I'll take your word for it!
Seriously though, good luck with the Kickstarter campaign... and with seasons 4, 5, 6.... of Relatively Prime as well ;-)  And THANKS for taking time out to participate at MathTango.
Now everyone go listen to some podcasts, and help Samuel out at Kickstarter if you can (less than 2 weeks left, so don't procrastinate)!

A Plentiful Potpourri

Lotsa leftovers that didn't make it into Math-Frolic this week (probably be even more today, but this list is already long enough):

1)  A "near-miss" in mathematics (a constructed polyhedron that doesn't exist; h/t Patrick Honner):
http://isohedral.ca/a-new-near-miss/

2)  Andrew Gelman, pessimistically, on the 'too big to fail' problem of journal retractions:
http://andrewgelman.com/2016/02/22/its-too-hard-to-publish-criticisms-and-obtain-data-for-replication/

Near the end he writes:"So unfortunately I don’t think it’s possible. Reform would be great, post-publication review is great, but I think we just have to give up on retraction. The system is just too big to fail." And he compares previously published work as "potentially a junk bond supported by toxic loans and you shouldn’t rely on it."

3)  This week, Quanta Magazine (in a tweet) passed along a link to these animated math videos:
http://www.3blue1brown.com/

4)  Maria Popova (of "Brainpickings") paying tribute to mathematics this week:
https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/02/22/james-joseph-sylvester-mathematics-address/

5)  Dave Finkel TEDTalk video (recommended by James Tanton) on math education:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytVneQUA5-c

6)  Probability and coincidences in the popular press (interesting Atlantic piece):
http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/02/the-true-meaning-of-coincidences/463164/

7)  Andrew Gelman again, this time looking at some statistics in the press being mangled (I'm shocked, SHOCKED I tell you!) re: Valentine's Day spending:
http://andrewgelman.com/2016/02/24/29068/

8)  A little update on Zipf's Law:
http://phys.org/news/2016-02-mathematical-law-gutenberg-texts.html

9)  Solving the Kadison-Singer problem by bridging disciplines:
http://www.wnyc.org/story/how-outsiders-cracked-50-year-math-mystery/

10)  Bertrand's Paradox has been written about many times; what I found intriguing in this post  though is the very last "Final remark," almost off-handedly mentioning that the author was working on yet another possible solution to the 3 that are usually given:
http://thatsmaths.com/2016/02/25/bertrands-chord-problem/

11)  h/t to Cathy O'Neil for highlighting this interesting-looking new book of math essays:
http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-21473-3
(Cathy's post here:  http://tinyurl.com/zvfhrbu )

12) Some 'bamboozlers' with ping pong balls and infinity:
https://plus.maths.org/content/ping-pong-balls-and-super-powers

13)  You say you've mastered Rubik's Cube... well, take it a notch up with Sudoku Cube (h/t Cliff Pickover):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudoku_Cube

14)  Samuel Hansen's "Relatively Prime" podcast is seeking funding for a 3rd successful season of mathematical stories (just couple of wks. left on Kickstarter campaign):
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/386612592/relatively-prime-season-3
(check it out!)

15)  Perhaps quantum computing can wait... an NP-complete problem solved using biology!:
http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/02/np-complete-problem-solved-with-biological-motors/

16)  I'll finish out, venturing over to physics again, with Brian Greene explaining gravitational waves to Stephen Colbert (quite good actually):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajZojAwfEbs&feature=youtu.be


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

1)  The brave new world of Google and Facebook...:
https://aeon.co/essays/how-the-internet-flips-elections-and-alters-our-thoughts

2)  If you missed this story from NPR about the "Jolly Roger Telephone Company," well you ought give it a listen (I'd call it a feel-good story):
http://www.npr.org/2016/02/25/468149405/jolly-roger-telephone-company-uses-software-to-entrap-telemarketers

Friday Wrap-up...

This week's eclectic mix:

1)  Funny words... involve math (and why not, pretty much everything else does) (h/t John Golden):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMfpw5us_7Y

2)  You may be interested in taking up Jason Rosenhouse's offer to send you his latest paper via pdf:
http://scienceblogs.com/evolutionblog/2016/02/12/happy-darwin-day/

3)  Peter Woit has some links to more info about Grothendieck in this post:
http://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/wordpress/?p=8311

4)  The 131st "Carnival of Mathematics" posted earlier in week with its usual variety:
http://aperiodical.com/2016/02/carnival-of-mathematics-131/

5)  Another remarkable Numberphile video from Tadashi:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuuYFt8bahE&feature=youtu.be

6)  Last weekend Mike Lawler had a long, chock-full post about Common Core and sharing math with kids:
https://mikesmathpage.wordpress.com/2016/02/14/sharing-math-from-mathematicians-with-the-common-core/

7)  If you like some physics mixed in with your math, this piece from plus Magazine on "Symmetry Making and Symmetry Breaking":
https://plus.maths.org/content/symmetry-making-and-symmetry-breaking

8)  I was VERY pleased to see that Michael Harris' "Mathematics Without Apologies" recently won a PROSE Award in the 'Mathematics' category. This was my 2nd favorite book for all of 2015, and it is a rich volume evoking fresh thoughts/ideas with every re-reading:
https://mathematicswithoutapologies.wordpress.com/2016/02/17/disorganized-snobs-want-to-know/

9)  Gotta love Futility Closet's almost-always succinct math puzzles -- easy-to-state, tricky to solve... like this one from yesterday:
www.futilitycloset.com/2016/02/18/pip-squeak/

10)  Evelyn Lamb writes about (and seeks further information on) Black mathematicians in this AMS posting:
http://tinyurl.com/jpad378

...speaking of which here's a new Anthony Bonato piece on John Urschel:
http://tinyurl.com/joy3zg4

11)  Dylan Kane reflects (or perhaps meta-reflects) on the 'why and how of learning math,' everyday language... and throwing future teachers under the bus:
 https://fivetwelvethirteen.wordpress.com/2016/02/18/affirmation/
  

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

1)  ICYMI, the story of the California hospital that just paid a ransom to free its computers from ransomware:
http://tinyurl.com/hp49hqj

2)  10 finalists for the million-dollar Varkey Foundation Global Teacher of the Year award have been announced:
http://www.globalteacherprize.org/2016-finalists

(the list includes 2 Americans, Joe Fatheree and Michael Soskel) 
Congratulations and good luck to all ...and I have no friggin' idea why Fawn Nguyen isn't on this list :-((
 

A Few From the Week Gone By

 Friday potpourri:

1)  Andrew Hacker, no stranger to controversy, returns to the NY Times for an interview about math education:
http://tinyurl.com/gradssr

2)  Taking off from Mike Lawler, who took off from James Propp, "Three J's Learning" explores surreal numbers with kids:
http://3jlearneng.blogspot.com/2016/02/surreal-numbers-and-whole-body-integers.html

...and just today Mike L. reports on his night of exploring the surreals with 4th & 5th graders:
https://mikesmathpage.wordpress.com/2016/02/12/sharing-the-surreal-numbers-with-kids/

3)  NPR's RadioLab re-ran their segment on "Turing's Machines" this week. Certainly worth a listen if you've not heard it before:
http://www.radiolab.org/story/turings-machines/

4)  From Arthur Clarke to learning to P vs. NP (via RJ Lipton & KW Regan):
https://rjlipton.wordpress.com/2016/02/07/magic-to-do/

5)  Not all the math literacy news is bad... article (The Atlantic) on the increase in advanced math clubs in U.S.:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/03/the-math-revolution/426855/

...you may also want to peruse Cathy O'Neil's concerns about such programs having an elitist bent:
http://mathbabe.org/2016/02/09/how-do-we-make-math-enrichment-less-elitist/

6)  The "Union-closed sets conjecture" via Futility Closet (in case, like me, you'd never heard of it):
http://www.futilitycloset.com/2016/02/09/the-union-closed-sets-conjecture/

7)  David Wells has begun the "Archimedes Mathematics Education Newsletter" (h/t to Alexander Bogomolny); looks promising:
https://t.co/iAqKIFbUt0

8)  'Uncle Colin' works out an inequality for a reader:
http://www.flyingcoloursmaths.co.uk/ask-uncle-colin-absolute-mess/

9)  You dear reader, are most likely exceptional (...at something); so Keith Devlin tells us in his latest blog post:
http://devlinsangle.blogspot.com/2016/02/theorem-you-are-exceptional.html

10)  Another probability conundrum from DataGenetics:
http://datagenetics.com/blog/february32016/index.html

11)  Feel like I'd be remiss if I didn't pass along at least a few of the huge plethora of articles on the new LIGO gravitational wave finding; as one quote puts it, "We’re saying that we made a measurement that is about a thousandth the diameter of a proton, that tells us about two black holes that merged over a billion years ago.” ...MIND.... BLOWN!....:

From The New Yorker:  http://tinyurl.com/jftsnzh
Dennis Overbye in the NY Times:  http://tinyurl.com/h4yp5kd
And Natalie Wolchover via Quanta Magazine:  http://tinyurl.com/jm2xfyq 


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

1)   Fascinating 7-minute episode from TEDRadioHour on filming, for the first time, a giant squid in the deep ocean:
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=373978671&m=375892022

2)  Natalie Angier tells NY Times readers about the human brain's special affinity for music:
http://tinyurl.com/hbmx34s