Monday Morning Buffet

Catching up on a few math links today:

1) Interesting view on how the trendy interest in "data science" or "big data" is different from academic statistics… and is that for good or ill:

http://simplystatistics.org/2013/04/15/data-science-only-poses-a-threat-to-biostatistics-if-we-dont-adapt/

2) Story on elite school, Amherst, rejecting affiliation with MOOC promoter EdX:

http://tinyurl.com/cqtbbh5

I'm curious how many, if any other, elite institutions have rejected outright invitations to participate in MOOC programs???

3) A nice introduction to limits from the "Better Explained" site here:

http://betterexplained.com/articles/an-intuitive-introduction-to-limits/

4) Have to admit I'd never heard of prodigy and lightning calculator Shakuntala Devi, an Indian math genius and astrologer(!), but apparently she was well-known to many. She passed away yesterday at 83. Learn about her interesting life and prowess at Wikipedia (which has additional links):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakuntala_Devi

5) …and lastly, I've put up an overview of Jim Holt's 2012 "Why Does the World Exist" volume over at my MathTango blog:

http://mathtango.blogspot.com/2013/04/from-whence.html

ADDENDUM: haven't had a chance to listen yet, but just realized Sol Lederman has a new podcast up with Ken Fan of "Girls' Angle," an organization specifically devoted to improving girls' experience with high school math:

http://wildaboutmath.com/2013/04/21/ken-fan-inspired-by-math-29/