Archive for the ‘Mathematics’ Category

Explanation This is Part 2 of a (lengthy) exchange between a reader and myself regarding a particularly troubling summation notation question recently. See the beginning of it here: Summation Notation (part 1) Continuing... Hi again sir Thanks for replying back sir Crazily, would it be ... ??? and the same for ... ??? Thanks for […]

Mathematical tattoos, especially ones based on fractals, are very interesting. Here are some examples.

GrafEq is interesting software. It is very robust when graphing relations. (A relation has more than one value of y for each value of x, eg a circle. A function, on the other hand, has only one y-value for each value of x, eg a parabola.) GrafEq is also good with functions! GrafEq (pronounced "graphic") […]

There is no such thing as 12 P.M. We shouldn't use such a term for schedules.

Financial math is too often neglected in school curriculums. How we use our money is important!

I saw an excellent movie about Stephen Hawking recently. The acting was brilliant (Hawking's muscular deterioration and growing frustration were portrayed with realism and sensitivity), the story is compelling (tragedy, romance, discovery, brilliance) and there was strong encouragement to reflect on the meaning of life, the universe and everything. Ever read his "A Brief History […]

I saw an episode of "NUMB3RS" last night. The show is about an FBI agent who uses his mathematician brother to solve crimes. It is apparently "based on real cases" according to the official NUMB3RS site (which is no longer available). Things I liked: Mathematics is respected and even elevated to something useful (The mantra […]

When we take a square root, does it have 1 or 2 answers?

This is like the millions in unclaimed lottery prizes around the world. Apparently, according to one of the superannuation companies in Australia (Update: company's name is Unisuper - link no longer available), 'there is about $5 billion of "lost" superannuation whose details are held by the Australian Tax Office.' Hey, if you guys don't want […]

Update (Jun 2013): See my reviews of related products, MS Math 3.0 and MS Math 4.0. Finally a math handwriting recognition software! For years I have been wondering why it is that you can input Chinese characters using a digital pen and it converts it to 'nice' electronic characters, but you can't do the same […]