Mathematics

I originally wrote this equation for an interview on the PRI radio program Fair Game, but we got to chatting and ran out of time, so I thought I'd blog it as well. Let me first say that I think it…

The primary source of doubt about studies of global warming, economics and medical issues is how well the scientists compiling the data know their statistics. The European Science Foundation’s three…

The first fax machine had no value. It couldn't send a fax to anyone. It was, from a value perspective, useless. The second fax machine added value to the first because it now had something which…

The American Institute of Mathematics (AIM), one of the leading math institutes in the U.S., announced today that after four years of intensive collaboration, 18 leading mathematicians and computer…

In theory, if you could define all the factors that go into making a decision and could define exactly how important is each of these factors, and could define how these factors interact, you could…

I have been studying differential equations, and developed a theorem about linear second order equations. I have not been able to find it anywhere else on the web or in my textbooks, and so I…

In this equation, it's probably pretty obvious what you should do. But is your life ruled by should? Do you gimp through your week yessir-ing and nomam-ing and cowtowing to avoid punishment? Okay, so…

Usually when you turn on the tube, you can be fairly certain what you are going to see—you know a show’s genre, actors, and reputation and even supposedly unscripted reality television rarely bucks…

When you turn on the Oscars, what are you really watching? Most people admit it's a good excuse for a fashion show. And it seems an obvious choice between Keira Knightley’s elegant, wine-colored Vera…

A mathematical model of disease cycles developed at the University of Michigan shows promise for predicting cholera outbreaks. Speaking in a symposium titled "New Vistas in the Mathematics of…