Monthly Archives: November 2013

How Quadratic Reciprocity Is Like Dealing Cards

Currently the Riemann-Roch theorem is my nemesis, and I stumbled on Matt Baker’s math blog while I was looking for some help figuring out how to use it. The post I came across, Riemann-Roch for Graphs and Applications, was not … Continue reading

Posted in Number Theory, Theoretical Mathematics | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on How Quadratic Reciprocity Is Like Dealing Cards

Exploding Myths About the History of Science

We want our heroes to be virtuous at all times, clear-thinking visionaries who never falter. Of course, that is almost never the case. But a nicely packaged narrative about a great person’s life is very tempting. In The Renaissance Mathematicus, … Continue reading

Posted in History of Mathematics | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

See Math, See Math Run

To me, the formula for the volume of a cone says “Did you know that 3 copies of the same cone occupy the same space as the smallest cylinder that contains one of them?” This fact relates (see picture) to … Continue reading

Posted in Applied Math, Math Education, Mathematics and the Arts, Recreational Mathematics, Theoretical Mathematics | 1 Comment