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Opinions expressed on these pages were the views of the writers and did not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the American Mathematical Society.
Category Archives: Current Events
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
Posted in Current Events
Tagged Azimuth Project, climate change, John Carlos Baez
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Pride Month And Math
June is Pride Month. June 28, 2019 is also the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots/uprising that marked the beginning of a new era in the fight for rights and freedoms for LGBTQ+ folks in America and around the world. … Continue reading
Posted in Current Events, Events, Math Education, people in math
Tagged 500 Queer Scientists, Anthony Bonato, Equality Act, GLSEN blog, inclusion/exclusion blog, inclusive, Juliettte Bruce, Kyle S. Whipple, LG&TBQ, LGBTQ+, Mary Hoelscher, Pride month
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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
Posted in Current Events
Tagged ABC conjecture, Ewin Tang, Harvard, MAA, Peter Swinnerton-Dyer, quantum computing, Teaching Evaluations, Urmila Mahadev
1 Comment
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
Posted in Current Events
Tagged Brian Hayes, counting, Election, gerrymandering, Justin Solomon, Laura Albert, Midterms, moon duchin, queueing theory, voting
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On Michael Atiyah and the Riemann Hypothesis
At the 2018 Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF), Sir Michael Atiyah gave a lecture in which he claimed to have found a proof for the Riemann hypothesis. If Atiyah’s proof holds up, then the nearly 160 year problem concerning the distribution of primes … Continue reading
The Thing Last Week With That Sexist Paper
Once again the mathematical world is rocked with scandal. Let me get you quickly up to speed. It started when a controversial paper on the variability hypothesis was accepted to the Mathematical Intelligencer. Shortly thereafter, University of Chicago mathematics professor … Continue reading
Posted in Current Events
Tagged computational biology, Larry Summers, Lior Patcher, sexism, terry tao, timothy gowers, variability hypothesis
3 Comments
Some Math About Guns
Turns out it can be really difficult to understand our collective relationship to guns, gun violence, and gun control. What seems to be obvious to some, runs completely counter to others. This was illustrated nowhere better than in the recent … Continue reading
Posted in Current Events
Tagged Aphyr, data, Induction Ex Machina, Kyle Kingsbury, Mark Reid, public policy, R
1 Comment
Are Smart Cities Really That Smart?
Lately I’ve been reading a lot of science fiction, and also a lot of articles about smart cities. And the two seem to be converging to a single point. I’m not entirely sure what “smart city” means as a term … Continue reading
Posted in Current Events
Tagged Credit Score, PunkRockOR, Science Fiction, Smart Cities, Transportation
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The NSF Gets Serious And #MeToo
It looks like the NSF is finally getting serious about its stance on researching funding and harassment in the sciences. Two years ago in January 2016, in an official statement, the NSF threatened to pull funding from Universities that didn’t … Continue reading
Posted in Current Events, women in math
Tagged #MeToo, Izabella Laba, nsf, Title IX
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Elevating The Art Of Math(s) Communication
The 2018 Joint Meetings are just around the corner, and lots of great stuff is going on in San Diego. There will be lectures on current events in math, panels and sessions highlighting inclusion in the field and on January … Continue reading
Posted in Current Events, Math Communication
Tagged JPBM Communications Awards, Matt Parker, Vi Hart
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