{"id":2769,"date":"2017-04-18T07:18:31","date_gmt":"2017-04-18T11:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/blogonmathblogs\/?p=2769"},"modified":"2017-04-18T07:18:31","modified_gmt":"2017-04-18T11:18:31","slug":"euler-erdos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/blogonmathblogs\/2017\/04\/18\/euler-erdos\/","title":{"rendered":"Recommended Reading: Euler, Erd\u0151s"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever used an analogy in a conversation only to have the conversation derailed as the person with whom you\u2019re speaking points out that the analogy is not quite perfect in some way? Of course it\u2019s not perfect! If it were perfect, it wouldn\u2019t be an analogy. It would just be the thing itself. Or maybe you\u2019ve been the one nitpicking an imperfect analogy. I was that nitpicker in a recent Facebook conversation, and it reminded me of a blog post aptly titled Analogies are the Worst!<\/span><\/a> from Jean Pierre Mutanguha\u2019s blog Euler, Erd\u0151s<\/span><\/a>. In it he uses analogies to explain why he doesn\u2019t like analogies, or at least the way many people use analogies in arguments. He also writes about\u00a0how his mathematical thinking influences the way he converses and thinks through arguments.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mutanguha is a graduate student in mathematics at the University of Arkansas. I took a peek at his blog when he followed me on Twitter (you can follow him here<\/span><\/a>), and I added it to my feed because I enjoy the way he\u00a0writes about math with enthusiasm and humor. Math is clearly a joyful subject to him, and he wants to share his insights about his favorite topics\u00a0rather than trying to impress you with how much he knows.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of my favorite posts is the fanciful Annotated history of the reals<\/span><\/a>. Math textbooks can give one the impression that math came to humans perfect and immutable, created by the hands of a divine being. Mutanguha takes that idea and runs with it: \u201cIn the beginning, there was nothing, 0=\u2205. Then we realized it<\/em> was something<\/em>, 1={\u2205}. Then we wondered, why not have another thing? 2. And another thing, 3. And another, 4, and another, 5, and another, 6, etc. Just like that, we had the natural numbers!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

“In the beginning…” Image:\u00a0The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise<\/em>,\u00a0Giovanni di Paolo. Public domain, via the Metropolitan Museum of Art.<\/p><\/div>\n

Mutanguha started his blog<\/span><\/a> in 2013 because he felt like there weren\u2019t enough math blogs for undergraduate-level math. Some of his early posts are explainers about topics from pentagonal numbers<\/span><\/a> to ordinal numbers<\/span><\/a> to the inclusion\/exclusion principle<\/span><\/a>. He\u2019s tended to incorporate more of his own insight and voice over time. Recent offerings include Fermat<\/a>\u00a0and his missing proofs<\/span>, mathematical crafts<\/span><\/a>, and randomness<\/span><\/a>. I\u2019m always excited when I see a new post from him in my feed, and I think people who read this blog will enjoy adding it their internet mathematics diet. So why not surf over to Euler, Erd\u0151s<\/span><\/a> and start reading?<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever used an analogy in a conversation only to have the conversation derailed as the person with whom you\u2019re speaking points out that the analogy is not quite perfect in some way? Of course it\u2019s not perfect! If … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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