David Olive writes about an American initiative to help inform citizens about how tax money is spent. By providing freely available information, one hopes that there will be a more sensible discussion about the perilous financial straits in which the American federal government (and many state governments as well) is currently sailing, and more cooperative … Read more
A while back I posted on this topic, starting with my father-in-law’s quirky (but charming) interpretation of probabilities quoted in weather reports, and continuing to discuss the meaning of probability in the context of weather forecasts. I suggested that someone ought to check on the accuracy of such reports, and listed a few resources. There … Read more
Niels Bohr was one of the giants of twentieth-century physics. He and Einstein respected each other very much, but their work habits were just about opposite. Einstein preferred to work with just a single assistant, if at all, whereas Bohr worked very hard to secure funding for an institute of theoretical physics in Denmark. Bohr … Read more
I just found out about PersonalBrain, a free software tool that enables one to organize computer files, web pages, and ideas in a mind-map-like structure that is expandable/contractable. A friend told me about it tonight, and said that the online Encyclopedia Britannica uses it to organize its two million plus web pages. I can’t vouch … Read more
In a previous post I wrote some advice on how to read a mathematics (or science) textbook. Having both taught and worked in the publishing world for many years, I have frequently heard (from publishers and other teachers) that students do not read textbooks. My experience working with students one-on-one has provided some details about … Read more
When I was a young and foolish undergraduate, Professor Blyth told us at the beginning of a math course how important it is to read a textbook several times. Once is not enough, he said. I recall very clearly how strongly he emphasized that reading a mathematics textbook is NOT like reading a novel. Years … Read more
I found out about this today, and have been watching the Decorah Eagle Cam here. It’s pleasant to hear baby birds chirping in the background while working, and checking in with them now and then. It’s not for the squeamish, though, as the parent eagle has been ripping at a carcass that its spouse brought … Read more
One reads in elementary science textbooks about “The Scientific Method“, as if there were only one. But even if there are as many methods as scientists, it is nevertheless possible to single out certain common good habits of scientific thought. The story of Clever Hans, the horse reputed for his seeming ability to solve arithmetics … Read more
Update: Scroll to the bottom of this post to see the solution to Smullyan’s logic puzzle discussed below. Raymond Smullyan has written many books. What is the Name of This Book?, published in 1978, is a collection of logic puzzles and paradoxes that culminate in a development of Gödel‘s incompleteness theorem. The first page of Chapter … Read more
Once upon a time, a mathematics professor (whom I shall call Professor M) from a North American university was regaling a small group of professors and graduate students with some anecdotes concerning a psychology professor (whom I shall call Professor P) and a mysterious black dog (whom I shall call B). A that time, the … Read more