Author Archives: annahaensch

A Blog On Blog On Math Blogs

Folks, I’m packing it in. After 97 posts and nearly 5 years of covering the math blog beat, the time has come for me to pack up my blogging tools and hit the high road to adventure. I’ve really enjoyed … Continue reading

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Planet Math

I was recently talking to a friend of mine about real estate. In particular, he was interested in buying a beautiful house on a beautiful street with bright new siding and a shiny array of solar panels. We had the … Continue reading

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A Conversation With Jim Propp

I recently had the tremendous pleasure of attending the 2019 BAHFest at MIT, an event in which very clever people deliver convincing arguments in support of absolutely ridiculous bad ad hoc hypotheses to a packed auditorium of nerds. Happily, this … Continue reading

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Do Evaluations Really Add Up?

First, let’s start with the classic article, “How to Improve Your Teaching Evaluations Without Improving Your Teaching” by Ian Neath from the mid 90’s, in which 20 tips are furnished for gaming your end-of-semester evaluations. Despite the funny title and … Continue reading

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Putting Math In Context

So, I’ve been eavesdropping on math history Twitter for the better part of a year now and there is one thread of conversation over there that I’ve been wanting to talk about, namely, the question of whether math – the … Continue reading

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We Need To Talk

We have a problem. I feel like we’re just not communicating properly. I hear you, but I don’t understand you. I appreciate that you have something to say, I just don’t like the way you’re saying it. I’m not angry, … Continue reading

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The Best and Worst of 2018

We’ve made it through another year! So as is the custom, here’s a quick roundup of the best and worst things that happened in 2018. In math. Best of 2018 There were two really exciting developments in quantum computing this … Continue reading

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A Mathematical Gift Guide

It’s that time of year again. The semester is winding down, mathematically rigorous 6-fold symmetric snowflakes deck the halls, and Mariah Carey is on the top of the Spotify charts. And while all Mariah wants for Christmas is YOU, finding … Continue reading

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Significantly Statistical Blogs Redux

I was just reading this article about Statscan, the Canadian warehouse for storing data and the branch of the government charged with the statistical analysis of all things Canadian, and came across this dizzyingly amazing quote about Statscan: Its statistics … Continue reading

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Not Those Midterms

I was reminded recently of a time a few years ago when I sent my students an email on November 4, 2014 with the following addendum “P.S. Don’t forget to vote in the midterms today.” The next day I was … Continue reading

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