http://plw.vox.com/library/posts/tags/mathematics/page/1/ Mathematics, science, and thinking in general en Vox Wed, 12 Sep 2007 15:44:23 +1200 Copyright 2007 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss mathematics http://plw.vox.com/library/post/creativity-in-mathematics-and-science.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/creativity-in-mathematics-and-science.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/creativity-in-mathematics-and-science.html?_c=feed-rss Wed, 12 Sep 2007 15:44:23 +1200 <p class="enclosed-assets" style="margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/photo/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e398a782bb0003.html?_c=feed-rss" style="float:left; margin-right:6px;"><img src="http://a3.vox.com/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e398a782bb0003-50si" alt="Eins5" /></a> <br style="clear:both;" /> </p> The video in my last post, and Christopher Richards's blog from which I nicked it, have really got me thinking about creativity, inspiration, and analytical thinking. My own creativity is woeful and worsening. Is this a common feeling amongst adul... <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/creativity-in-mathematics-and-science.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e398a76e760002?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> mathematics creativity slow http://plw.vox.com/library/post/toddlers-vocabulary-explosion.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/toddlers-vocabulary-explosion.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/toddlers-vocabulary-explosion.html?_c=feed-rss Thu, 09 Aug 2007 17:01:17 +1200 Here is an article from Scientific American which struck a chord with me for two reasons. Firstly, it explains the rapid increase in the vocabulary of toddlers, a breathtaking phase my son is currently blossoming through. Secondly, it does so with... <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/toddlers-vocabulary-explosion.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e3989c03f00005?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> language mathematics linguistics statistics scientific american toddlers developmental psychology bell curve http://plw.vox.com/library/post/my-website.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/my-website.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/my-website.html?_c=feed-rss Fri, 27 Jul 2007 11:41:01 +1200 Finally, after six months, I've got my website up and running at work. Check it out! <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/my-website.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e39897b30f0004?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> mathematics http://plw.vox.com/library/post/sizes-of-infinities-and-describing-mobius-strips.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/sizes-of-infinities-and-describing-mobius-strips.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/sizes-of-infinities-and-describing-mobius-strips.html?_c=feed-rss Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:12:22 +1200 There are two excellent new mathematical articles on the Scientific American website. The first rather bravely and lucidly takes the reader through Cantor's proof that there are more numbers between 0 and 1 than there are positive whole numbers. ... <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/sizes-of-infinities-and-describing-mobius-strips.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500e3989771b60005?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> mathematics infinity scientific american ucl mobius cantor university college london http://plw.vox.com/library/post/phil-wilson-and-the-deathly-moods.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/phil-wilson-and-the-deathly-moods.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/phil-wilson-and-the-deathly-moods.html?_c=feed-rss Tue, 24 Jul 2007 16:16:25 +1200 Where did those three months just go? They vanished in a vortex of introspection and general existential angst that consumes me from time to time, and during which blogging seemed risibly inane. I think my posts are still inane, if not risibly so,... <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/phil-wilson-and-the-deathly-moods.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500d09e8543d3be2b?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> harry potter mathematics science life hack http://plw.vox.com/library/post/maverick-math.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/maverick-math.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/maverick-math.html?_c=feed-rss Wed, 04 Apr 2007 10:32:07 +1200 An interesting article in Scientific American (linking in nicely to an earlier post)reveals that there is more to success in mathematics than a high IQ. It seems that the ability to hold information in your working memory, while simultaneously bei... <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/maverick-math.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500cd971f36814cd5?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> mathematics memory education iq scientific american http://plw.vox.com/library/post/mapping-e8.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/mapping-e8.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/mapping-e8.html?_c=feed-rss Fri, 23 Mar 2007 11:46:04 +1200 <p class="enclosed-assets" style="margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/photo/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500d4142a4d713c7f.html?_c=feed-rss" style="float:left; margin-right:6px;"><img src="http://a1.vox.com/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500d4142a4d713c7f-50si" alt="E8" /></a> <br style="clear:both;" /> </p> This is the structure which made it onto the Beeb. Pretty, isn't it? The image was downloaded from a New Scientist article here (Image: John Stembridge, based on a drawing by Peter McMullen [I wonder if this is the McMullen who used to lecture me... <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/mapping-e8.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500cd971c3c7d4cd5?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> mathematics group theory e8 http://plw.vox.com/library/post/maths-on-aunty.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/maths-on-aunty.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/maths-on-aunty.html?_c=feed-rss Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:43:24 +1200 Math makes it onto the BBC! <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/maths-on-aunty.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500cd971b84fa4cd5?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> mathematics bbc e8 lie group http://plw.vox.com/library/post/wobbly-tables-wobbly-no-more-mathematics-to-the-rescue.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/wobbly-tables-wobbly-no-more-mathematics-to-the-rescue.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/wobbly-tables-wobbly-no-more-mathematics-to-the-rescue.html?_c=feed-rss Wed, 31 Jan 2007 13:04:34 +1300 Another tip-off from Scientific American - the long-awaited mathematical proof of how to stop a table wobbling. Read the preprint here. (Quite by coincidence, the first author of this paper occupies the office next to mine - an office I only moved... <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/wobbly-tables-wobbly-no-more-mathematics-to-the-rescue.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500d4141b2a1c6a47?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> mathematics wobbly table http://plw.vox.com/library/post/physicists-make-religion-crystal-clear-physicsweb.html?_c=feed-rss nobody@vox.com(Phil Wilson) http://plw.vox.com/library/post/physicists-make-religion-crystal-clear-physicsweb.html?_c=feed-rss http://plw.vox.com/library/post/physicists-make-religion-crystal-clear-physicsweb.html?_c=feed-rss Mon, 08 Jan 2007 18:20:17 +1300 Physicsweb has a great little article about a peer-reviewed study showing how "[t]he rise and fall in the popularity of major religions can be described using the same mathematics that is used to model crystallization processes . . . The researche... <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://plw.vox.com/library/post/physicists-make-religion-crystal-clear-physicsweb.html?_c=feed-rss#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00cd96f8f09e4cd500cdf7f235a6094f?_c=feed-rss">Send to a friend</a> </p> mathematics science religion physics science and faith