Saturday, January 12, 2013

Have a Little Math With Your Weekend

For some weekend entertainment….

Sol Lederman's latest installment of his "Inspired by Math" podcast series is with Ian Stewart, one of the most prolific and widely-known of all modern math popularizers. I've been pleasantly surprised by the degree to which 'math people,' including such prominent and busy ones as Stewart, Keith Devlin, Steven Strogatz and others, are willing to share themselves with the learning community, through such online outlets. It is really wonderful, and I think a reflection of the desire on the part of mathematicians to transform their subject from one that is too-often feared to one for eager engagement. So set aside an hour and listen to Dr. Stewart talk about what inspires him:

http://wildaboutmath.com/2013/01/11/ian-stewart-inspired-by-math-14/

There is also a new math blog in the blog corral of Scientific American: "The Roots of Unity" from Evelyn Lamb; subheading "Mathematics: Learning It, Doing It, Celebrating It" -- looks like it'll be good (and I've added it to the right-hand column links):

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/roots-of-unity/


1 comment:

Sol Lederman said...

Shecky,

As always, I appreciate the plug. I have to say that I am absolutely amazed at how humble these prominent math popularizers are and, as you say, "willing to share themselves with the learning community." I sent Dr. Stewart an email thanking him for giving me an hour of his time for the interview and he wrote back thanking me for giving him the opportunity. I'm stunned!

On Monday I'm interviewing Steven Strogatz and am very excited about that. And, in the next week or two I'll be immortalizing you!