Author Archives: Derek Smith

About Derek Smith

Former weather dude and scientific software developer. In the upcoming 2015-16 year I will complete my PhD at UCSB in nonlinear dispersive equations. I enjoy spending time with my two young daughters and running.

Reflections on Teaching

I was recently asked to be part of an advice panel for newly minted teaching assistants. Oh, how time flies! After assisting with numerous classes and teaching vector calculus twice, I’d like to think I have some advice to offer. … Continue reading

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Start an AMS Student Chapter

Before you ask, my university does not currently have an AMS Graduate Student Chapter. I learned about this opportunity through my involvement this year in creating a SIAM graduate student chapter. But the two organizations offer practically the same deal … Continue reading

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Mathematical Documentaries

In December, Tyler Clark described the Mathematical Movie Database, a catalog of movies with any amount of mathematical content. To complement that post, check out the following three lists of mathematical documentaries: MathOverflow – Interesting mathematical documentaries Math.SE – List … Continue reading

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The Selected Papers Network

The arXiv turned twenty-two years old back in August, and we’re beginning to see the type of experimentation and rule-breaking you would associate with a young adult. I discovered the latest example, the Selected Papers Network (SP.net), while browsing MathOverflow. … Continue reading

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Repair Scanned Documents With gscan2pdf

I had the pleasure last week of tracking down an article locked behind a digital paywall. It arrived through inter-library loan in the form of a book, all issues of the journal that year bound together. I felt a little … Continue reading

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