Slashdot Mirror
Math Awareness Month
An anonymous reader writes: April is Mathematics Awareness Month. Mathematics of the Cosmos is the 2005 theme: Mathematics is at the core of our attempts to understand the cosmos at every level: Riemannian geometry and topology furnish models of the universe, numerical simulations help us to understand large-scale dynamics, celestial mechanics provides a key to comprehending the solar system, and a wide variety of mathematical tools are needed for actual exploration of the space around us."
Can we come out now?
The Braying and Neighing of Barnyard Animals Follows.
You can stop posting the April Foo---oh. It's real.
I think I will spend math awareness month counting. I've never tried to count as high as I could. I could keep a tally each night before sleep. Spend the month trying to count to however high a number as possible...
Popular Internet website "Slashdot" has ceased and desisted its run of distressingly unfunny April Fool's news entries. Trolls everywhere have reported repeated bouts of jealousy at the power of CmdrTaco to shit all over Slashdot - a capacity whose unhindered, total form had eluded them.
Can anyone express Slashdot as an equation?
"Who says nothing is impossible? Some people do it every day!" - Alfred E. Neuman
"The exponential loss of readership due to posting crappy April Fool's day stories"
http://request-header.info
Whois says it's not commander taco (unless he went to hella trouble):
Server Used: [ whois.pir.org ]
http://www.mathaware.org/ = [ 130.44.204.33 ]
Domain ID: D68151192-LROR
Domain Name: MATHAWARE.ORG
Created On: 22-Mar-2001 18: 07: 59 UTC
Last Updated On: 22-Oct-2004 22: 18: 24 UTC
Expiration Date: 22-Mar-2008 18: 07: 59 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar: Network Solutions LLC (R63-LROR)
Status: CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Registrant ID: 6075150-NSI
Registrant Name: American Mathematical Society
Registrant Organization: American Mathematical Society
Registrant Street1: 201 CHARLES ST
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City: PROVIDENCE
Registrant State/Province: RI
Registrant Postal Code: 02904-2213
"CERT team notices amazing drop in internet traffic this April 1, goes into panic mode until it is determined that the traffic drop is due to lack of Slashdot clickthroughs. Apparently, no one clicks on links to article posts on April "Fools Day." Meanwhile, Vegas bookies giving odds on first site to be slashdotted when normal posts resume, give 2 to 1 that it will be site linked by slashdot sometime in the last two weeks."
"Lack of technical competence coupled with the arrogance of power, as usual, leads to no good end."
I plan to celebrate April (and May, and possibly June) by reading Roger Penrose's The Road to Reality an entertaining tome of but 1100 pages that purports to teach the reader all the math he needs to understand modern physics. Penrose is the ultimate optimist, but I must confess, I'm having difficulty after only chapter 8 (Riemann surfaces and complex mappings) of 34. Maybe, if I don't pay too much attention to the math, I'll breeze right through it. But then, that would defeat the whole purpose of Math Awareness Month.
Any suggestions on what to tackle next? I really liked set theory, Boolean calculus, and so on (which means the topology book has been really enjoyable so far). My main goal is to be able to read the occasional article on higher math that filters through Slashdot, and the various interesting-looking physics books I find when I make it in to a city with a real bookstore (the best my town has to offer is a Hastings).
I know that the real answer is "whatever I'm interested in", but I haven't been exposed to enough math beyond multivariate calculus to know what I'm interested in. Was there any class you took or book you read that made you look at the world differently or left you hungry for more?
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
Oh, God. Have you seen this one?
The evolution/creationism debate has gone to the next level in a small Pennsylvania town
Summary for the link deprived: Parents are furious with a math teacher for refusing to present Biblical cubit-based mathematics alongside higher math concepts, and not allowing children with strong faith objections to opt out of certain classes. They also want textbooks to carry warning stickers: Calculus is just a theory and not mentioned anywhere in the Bible.
In the USA, 'mathematics' is abbreviated to 'math'. In the UK, it is abbreviated to 'maths'. Since the UK comprises England amongst other countries, and England created the English language, the abbreviation 'maths' would appear to be a perfectly valid -- if not even 'more correct' -- usage.
Oh, and chaps: it's aluminium.
Tubal-Cain smokes the white owl.
A large group of Irrational Numbers picketed this month's Math Awareness Parade. Waving reams of perforated computer paper, they screamed "We're here, we're queer, get used to it!" and spitting on passing integers.
... and then they built the supercollider.
Analysis, Number Theory and Function Theory
Like any other discipline, once you grasp the basics , admiring the cleverness and hacks of the people in that discipline can be very awe inspiring.
Math is an intimidating discipline, usually because many things have to be thought out thoroughly. Proofs can sometimes be very long. An incredible part is when you find or learn about alternative proofs. The ones that are only a few lines, that at the core contain a clever new idea that for some strange reason had eluded everyone for ages.
In a way math and mathematical proofs are like lock-picking. In the worst case you have to use a drill or explosives, in the best cases - the cases that are always hoped to be found - the are ways to open the vault by listening, maybe using a magnet or string and giving it a final kick.
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sigamajig...