Since you’re here reading this, you probably know that on October 30th, Matt “Friend of the Site” Parker released his book, Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension. If you’ve gone one further and read it, you might have seen the occasional reference to the website, makeanddo4d.com. If that website is the book’s DVD extras, this is the website’s extras. We’re going to peek behind the scenes and see how it all works. (Spoiler alert: the maths is powered by maths. It’s recursive maths, all the way down.)
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Paper about teaching using ‘unplanned impact’
I have a paper published online-first by BSHM Bulletin: Journal of the British Society for the History of Mathematics. This means it is online and will be in an upcoming issue.
My title is: ‘The unplanned impact of mathematics’ and its implications for research funding: a discussion-led educational activity.
Abstract:
Am I a Mathematician?
I describe myself in my mini-bio as a Maths Enthusiast, Egyptologist and Streetdancer. Can I upgrade myself from Maths Enthusiast to Mathematician?
The answer to this question is a cultural one. We can put aside the question of whether mathematics itself is ‘real’ or not. The names we give to the people that do maths, and how they are organised and paid for is an entirely societal and cultural question. For me, the question of how mathematicians are recruited, trained and regarded by society should be one of the main research goals of the history of mathematics.
Twitter’s favourite fictional mathematicians
In an idle moment of wondering, I asked a simple question on Twitter:
What’s everyone’s favourite fictional mathematician?
— Katie Steckles (@stecks) November 10, 2014
The response was overwhelming. Here’s a guide to the non-existent number crunchers you should know about, and some you probably already do.
‘All that glitters is not golden’: a Fibonacci Day Roundup
Yesterday was 23/11, also known in some parts as 11/23, and you may recognise this as being a date made of the first four Fibonacci numbers. (Such numerical date-based Fibonacci coincidences haven’t been as exciting since 5/8/13, but at least this is one we can celebrate annually.) This meant that mathematicians everywhere got excited about #FibonacciDay, and spent the day talking about the amazing sequence. Here’s a round-up of some of the best bits, so you can celebrate Fibonacci day in style.
‘George Green’s Mathematical Influences’ — audio now available
I recently gave a public talk about George Green’s mathematical education and influences, the audio for which is now available online.
Watch out! I’m a blue whale and I’m about to land on you!
I don’t know why this question popped into my head, but it’s been sitting there for the past week and showing no signs of moving on.
Suppose an enemy of mine threw a friendly blue whale at me. Being a friendly whale, it makes the blue-whale-noise equivalent of “DUCK!” to warn me it’s coming.
How quickly does the whale need to be travelling for its warning to be useful?