There is a new page collating all previous Carnival of Mathematics posts and listing future hosts, and through which you can volunteer to host future Carnivals: “Carnival of Mathematics“.
MacMahon Squares
In my capacity as someone who occasionally turns up and does maths at people, I often find myself exposed to ‘starter puzzles’ – things the organisers provide to whichever group of humans have come to see me do maths, to give them something to do in any waiting time before the event starts. This is,…
John Conway profile
An interview/profile of John Conway has been published at The Daily Princetonian. Conway talks about his life and his methods. “We’re remarkably free here,” Conway said of his position at Princeton. “Nobody tells me off for playing games. In fact, I’ve made playing games be serious.” Source: Math and games.
Devlin’s 21st C. mathematician that can’t be outsourced
Keith Devlin has written a piece in the Huffington Post. Repetitive tasks such as high-tech assembly-line manufacturing, airline reservations, and customer support are not the only things that can be outsourced in the flat world of the twenty-first century. So too can many less routine tasks that require a university education in science, technology, engineering…
Advance in snowflake growth simulation
Scientific American are reporting that “a team of mathematicians has for the first time succeeded in simulating a panoply of snowflake shapes using basic conservation laws, such as preserving the number of water molecules in the air”. This explains that previous simulations often simulate the crystal surface using interlocking triangles, but that: the triangles often…
Emmy Noether biography in NY Times
A biography of Emmy Noether has been published in the New York Times. Albert Einstein called her the most “significant” and “creative” female mathematician of all time, and others of her contemporaries were inclined to drop the modification by sex. She invented a theorem that united with magisterial concision two conceptual pillars of physics: symmetry…
30th Anniversary LMS Popular Lectures: Gowers and Penrose
The 30th Anniversary LMS Popular Lectures will be given by Professor Sir Roger Penrose, FRS (University of Oxford) and Professor Tim Gowers, FRS (University of Cambridge). The London Mathematical Society Popular Lectures present exciting topics in mathematics (and its applications) to a wide audience. The lectures are suitable for all who have an interest in mathematics. The lectures will held…