Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Strogatz, Zero, and Probability


Well, it's not with me :-( but nonetheless a nice interview with Steven Strogatz from Wired.com here (turns out he has a special fondness for the number 1/7, and admits to a prior ignorance of the arithmetic operation of "casting out nines"):

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/10/the-beauty-and-delight-of-mathematics-qa-with-steven-strogatz/

Meanwhile, the various dangers of 0 (psssst... DON'T divide by it) are explained in this recent 13-min. Numberphile video:



And lastly, a nice little counterintuitive probability conundrum from Futility Closet involving bridge hands and aces:

http://www.futilitycloset.com/2012/10/17/the-paradox-of-the-second-ace-2/

(somewhat reminiscent of the more-famous boy-or-girl paradox or even the "boy born on Tuesday problem")

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