Mathematician Marcus du Sautoy on the unknown, the horizons of the knowable, and how the cross-pollination of disciplines fertilizes truth.
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Mathematician Marcus du Sautoy on the unknown, the horizons of the knowable, and how the cross-pollination of disciplines fertilizes truth.
Legendary mathematician and probability theory pioneer Mark Kac on the duality of the creative life and the two types of geniuses.
For Norton Juster’s birthday, The Dot and the Line – his quirky vintage love story in lower mathematics.
The Boy Who Loved Math – the illustrated story of eccentric genius and lovable oddball Paul Erdős, one of the most prolific and influential mathematicians of the twentieth century.
This is the formula for the secret of lasting relationships – mathematician Hannah Fry explains why.
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For more ideas on expanding your learning horizons, check out Noodle.
For a deliciously geeky Valentine’s Day, The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics – a vintage gem by Norton Juster
Tragicomic: Adults try 5th-grade math. Recover with Love and Math.
(HT Doobybrain)
Heartening news of the day: Stanford’s Maryam Mirzakhani becomes the first woman to win the Fields Medal, the “Nobel Prize of mathematics.” In some distant galaxy, Maria Mitchell’s heart is bursting with joy.
![Researchers develop the formula for happiness. No, really. For the algebraically reluctant, it boils down to this:
“ Happiness “doesn’t depend on how things are going [but] on whether things are going better or worse than you had expected they...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/c73ee54118ffc12aa1aa5999a6d8ff37/tumblr_n9ytad9cLI1rqpa8po1_500.jpg)
Researchers develop the formula for happiness. No, really. For the algebraically reluctant, it boils down to this:
Happiness “doesn’t depend on how things are going [but] on whether things are going better or worse than you had expected they would.”
Albert Camus put it even more elegantly half a century ago, and Kierkegaard touched on it in his meditation on the greatest source of our unhappiness.
Dive deeper with these 7 essential reads on the psychology of happiness.
These minimalist posters of mathematical objects by VisualizingMath are the best thing since Oliver Byrne’s Victorian drawings of Euclid’s elements.
(via jtotheizzoe)
(via itsokaytobesmart)
If you’re going to get anywhere in learning mathematics, you need to learn to be comfortable not understanding something… The truth is that mathematicians are chronically lost and confused. It’s our natural state of being, and I mean that in a good way.
Jeremy Kun on why mathematicians are, and should be, “chronically lost and confused." Pair with the wonderful Love and Math.
Happy Pi Day! Celebrate with some beautiful data art by Martin Krzywinski, visualizing the digits of pi. For good measure, pair with David Byrne on how to be an educated consumer of infographics.
Mathematical knowledge is unlike any other knowledge. Its truths are objective, necessary and timeless.
Edward Frenkel, author of the fantastic Love and Math: The Heart of a Hidden Reality, considers whether the universe is a simulation.
That lady whom I look upon as a great man… She understands Newton, she despises superstition and in short she makes me happy.
The Philosopher and the Prodigy – how Voltaire fell in love with a remarkable 18th-century female mathematician
Helen Friel - “Here’s Looking at Euclid” (paper sculptures of mathematician Oliver Byrne’s illustrations of Euclid’s Elements, 2012)
Amazing sculptural rendition of one of the most beautiful books of all time, eccentric Victorian mathematician Oliver Byrne’s illustrations for Euclid’s Elements – a glorious intersection of art and science.
(via itsokaytobesmart)