Inspired by the BBC’s Sport Relief fundraising campaign, I’ve decided to set myself a vaguely mathematical running challenge. My current routine does involve a little running, but nothing serious, so I’ve given myself a bar to aim for that’s both vaguely achievable, and completely irrational. I’ll aim to run π kilometres (or as close as…
This post is in response to Peter’s post introducing the Approximate Geometric Mean. The approximate geometric mean $\mathrm{(AGM)}$ is a nice approximation of the geometric mean $\mathrm{(GM)}$, but it has some quirks as we will see. After a discussion at the MathsJam gathering, I was intrigued to find out how good an approximation it is.…
I gave a talk on Fermi problems and a method for approaching them using the approximate geometric mean at the Maths Jam gathering in 2017. This post is a write up of that talk with some extras added in from useful discussion afterwards. Enrico Fermi apparently had a knack for making rough estimates with very…
On 31st January 2008, I gave my first lecture. I was passing my PhD supervisor in the corridor and he said “there might be some teaching going if you fancy it, go and talk to Mike”. And that, as innocuous as it sounds, was the spark that lit the flame. I strongly disliked public speaking,…
The next issue of the Carnival of Mathematics, rounding up blog posts from the month of January, and compiled by Rachel, is now online at The Math Citadel. The Carnival rounds up maths blog posts from all over the internet, including some from our own Aperiodical. See our Carnival of Mathematics page for more information.
If you pay attention to United States politics you have probably noticed that mathematics is currently enjoying a rare moment of relevance. You probably also know this is not happening because all of a sudden politicians have decided that mathematics is clearly the coolest thing in the world, even though it clearly is, but instead…
Did you read Cédric Villani’s Birth of a Theorem? Did you have the same reaction as me, that all of the mentions of the technical details were incredibly impressive, doubtless meaningful to those in the know, but ultimately unenlightening? Writing about maths, especially deep technical maths, so that a reader can follow along with it…