Tag: math

Happy E.T. Jaynes Day

Most fascinating of all is Jaynes’ interpretation of probability theory. He realized that probability theory is a generalization of Aristotlean logic and by introducing degrees of belief this logic can be made much more flexible, as well as capable of dealing with uncertainty. This view is explained at length in his last work, Probability Theory – the Logic of Science. Although some parts of the book are fairly math-heavy, you can still get a lot out of the first few chapters with basic arithmetic.

Probability Theory – the Logic of Science sounds like a worthy read (after the black swan, which i just bought)

Institute For Figuring

At the core of the IFF’s work is the concept of material play. We believe that ideas usually presented in abstract terms can often be embodied in physical activities that engage audiences via kindergarten-like practices. Through activities such as cutting and folding paper, we affirm that the hands and eyes can serve as guides to developing the human mind. By inviting our audience to literally play with ideas, the IFF offers a new, hands-on approach to public science education that is at once intellectually rigorous, pedagogically rich, and aesthetically aware.

another math museum. why is this stuff in smarts-challenged LA and not in boston?

Math Savant

Daniel Tammet is a high-functioning autistic savant. He can calculate huge sums in his head in seconds and instantaneously recognize prime numbers, but he finds emotions difficult to understand and has trouble telling left from right. 1 of fewer than 50 such people living worldwide, Daniel is unique in his ability to articulate his savant experience. He describes his visual experience of numbers as complex synaesthetic shapes with color, texture and motion. 37 is lumpy like porridge, while 89 reminds him of falling snow. Sequences of digits form visual landscapes in his mind.

A glimpse of our posthuman future.

E8

after 4 years of intensive collaboration, 18 leading mathematicians and computer scientists from the US and Europe have successfully mapped E8, one of the largest and most complicated structures in mathematics.

math is moving towards high energy physics style collaboration
2007-11-15:

keep in mind that this is just a theory, it has no experimental support, and it might be wrong. I think it’s got a shot, which is why I work on it, but it’s still just a developing theory. So don’t go crazy, people; but yes, it is pretty damn cool. This is an all-or-nothing kind of theory – it’s either going to be exactly right, or spectacularly wrong. I’m the first to admit this is a long shot. But it ain’t over till the LHC sings.

2008-10-14: it’s all about the E8

Claims of the Normal

Personally, I see 2 or 3 UFOs every week. This does not astonish me, or convince me of the spaceship theory. Unidentified Non-Flying Objects. These remain unidentified (by me) because they go by too fast or look so weird that I never know whether to classify them as hedgehogs, hobgoblins or helicopters– or as stars or satellites or spaceships — or as pookahs or pizza-trucks or probability waves. Of course, I also see things that I feel fairly safe in identifying as hedgehogs or stars or pizza trucks, but the world contains more and more events that I cannot identify fully and dogmatically with any norm or generalization. I live in a spectrum of probabilities, uncertainties and wonderments.

that is the funniest piece on statistical illiteracy i have read yet

The knot driver

“In the spring issue of The Mathematical Intelligencer, Michael Kleber, a topologist at MIT, waxed enthusiastic about [the interchange’s] ‘non-trivial braiding‘: while it is possible to just lift I-95 up and away from I-695, the northbound lane of I-95 braids both over, and then under, the southbound lane, making it impossible to pull them apart without cutting one of the lanes.” This leads me to wonder, of course, if you could take-over the US Department of Transportation, and rebuild the nation’s highway infrastructure as a massive textbook in driveable knot theory.

Math Education

combating innumeracy with 3D worlds: moving math from 2D symbols to 3D representations

For the first time since Euclid started the mathematics education ball rolling over 2000 years ago, we are within a generation of eradicating innumeracy and being able to bring out the mathematical ability that research has demonstrated conclusively is within (almost) everyone’s reach. Never before in the history of mathematics have we had a technology that is ideally suited to representing and communicating basic mathematics. But now, with the development of manufactured, immersive, 3D environments, we do.

2008-03-22:

it may be time to rethink the very idea of national teaching systems that with varying success prepare youngsters to join a global conversation when they grow up.

very enthusiastic +1