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Martin Garder and Walter Rudin

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Kareem Carr

Both Martin Gardner and Walter Rudin died last week. Although I have never met either man, both had a profound effect on my development as a mathematical person. I am sure that this is true for many in the mathematical community. Martin Gardner wrote recreational mathematical articles of the sort that could, with the skill of a mystery writer, deploy pearls of mathematical intrigue that bit by bit would ensnare the reader in the wonder of numbers. His writing ignited and nurtured a passion for mathematics in a thirteen year old boy, a flame that continues to burn brightly. Rudin wrote some of the most beloved and well-read textbooks in all of mathematics. They are certainly among my favorites. Both men have done a lot to advance the understanding and appreciation for mathematics. In so doing, they have earned the admiration and gratitude of many. May they rest in peace.

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MIT or Suicide !?

Posted on May 21, 2010 by Kareem Carr

By Kareem Carr

The Peoples Archive was the subject of my last article article, and, as I said there, it provides a chance to get a really intimate portrait of what it means to spend your life doing science or mathematics and being a scholar. The discussions are unpredictable and often stray into deeply personal topics. I have watched many of the clips and they almost always entail moments that I find some resonance with, not just as somehow who aspires to do many of the things the participants have done, and not just as someone who has a similar scholarly bent, but also as a fellow human being, who sometimes finds himself mired in the ambiguities of daily life. There are so many predicaments that are at the same time mundane in their universality and so profoundly earthshaking when you experience them.
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Insights into Scholarly Living

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Kareem Carr

By Kareem Carr

The Peoples Archive is an online video archive where people who have achieved some success in their lives discuss in detail their life stories. The original focus was science and so, lucky for us, many of these people are scientists and mathematicians. These are entirely unscripted moments and therefore lack much of the filtering of biographies. I found many of the discussions quite insightful because they stray into many gray areas such as how to deal with interpersonal conflict, how to make difficult choices, how to overcome mistakes and how to handle failure or disappointment.

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