Advice for the Young Scientist – John Baez

Posted on January 3, 2014 by Shijie Gu

Baez2_smallJohn Baez is an American mathematical physicist and a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) in Riverside, California. He is known for his work on spin foams in loop quantum gravity.More recently, his research has focused on applications of higher categories to physics and other things. Occasionally, I read some advice from him for young scientists. Some practical tips are: Continue reading →

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Three Forces Too Many

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Avery Carr
Yang-Mills 1 2

Photo Credit: Avery Carr

Patterns are inexplicably tucked under the fabric of natural existence.   Sometimes, with keen intuition and a strong analytical skill set, mathematical and theoretical physicists peel away the layers of entrancement exposing an ornate and cohesive structure underlying reality.   Whether it is a newly predicted particle or describing the role of entropy in black holes, these masters of universal logic trudge through the vast corridors of imagination to uncover the character of physical law.  With each new step, discoveries leap from the pages of theoretical manuscripts into a medley of experimental procedures. Continue reading →

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Mathematical Movie Database

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Tyler Clark

film_projector_on_stand_sm_whtI saw the following Tweet yesterday:

https://twitter.com/bucharesttutor/statuses/414864367466057728

I am always interested in finding mathematics in pop culture. The Mathematical Movie Database contains an extensive list of more than 800 movies and television shows that contain clips of mathematics. The site is maintained by Burkard Polster and Marty Ross.

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Koch Snowflake

Posted on December 21, 2013 by Stephanie Blanda

With the the official start of winter, many of us are going to be seeing more snow. But not all snowflakes are cold and wet. The Koch snowflake, first introduced by Swedish mathematician Niels Fabian Helge von Koch in his 1904 paper, is one of the earliest fractal curves to have been described. In his paper, von Koch used the Koch curve to illustrate that it is possible to have figures that are continuous everywhere but differentiable nowhere.

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A Poem

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Jean Joseph

Here’s a poem by mathematician and astronomer Omar Khayyam:

VIII
Whether at Naishapur or Babylon,
Whether the Cup with sweet or bitter run,
The Wine of Life keeps oozing drop by drop,
The Leaves of Life keep falling one by one.

 

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