Professor Emeritus Victor Hill sends this interesting report: Dan Skwire ’91 is a man after my own heart — a successful actuary with serious interests in literature. His first article had the wonderful title, “Actuarial Issues in the Novels of Jane Austen” (1997) — now doesn’t that… Continue reading »
The theory is that traditional (incandescent) light bulbs waste lots of energy by producing more heat than light. Let’s look at the bigger picture. I’m a big fan of saving energy: I go shopping with my car just once a month, I keep the thermostat at 50 degrees, I turn… Continue reading »
Quora has a blog on the most ridiculous proofs in mathematics, starting with a proof that the cube root of 3 is irrational by way of Fermat’s Last Theorem. Continue reading »
In a hard-fought match, Williams defeated Middlebury in the annual Green Chicken mathematics competition, winning 125 to 118, thanks to a large degree to a deep bench with first years who stepped up when needed. Top scorer was Jared Hallett ’13, followed by Samantha Petti ’15 and then first years… Continue reading »
Williams College faculty members Colin Adams, Edward Burger, Satyan Devadoss, Susan Loepp, and Frank Morgan have been named inaugural Fellows of the American Mathematical Society (AMS). Williams press release. Continue reading »
Professor Frank Morgan was interviewed on Strongly Connected Components with Samuel Hansen. Continue reading »
Prof. Ed Burger’s new text with Michael Starbird, The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking, just got an enthusiastic review in the Washington Times. Ex-President Schapiro called it “enormously insightful.” Ex-President Chandler said it shows that “mathematical expertise is within the reach of the general population.” Burger appeared briefly on WNYT… Continue reading »
Diana Davis ’07 has abstracted her Brown math PhD thesis in a dance video. It just won the Dance Your PhD contest sponsored by Science and AAAS. Listen to her interview on the Physics Buzz Podcast. Continue reading »
With the World Series starting October 31, Prof. Morgan’s Huffington Post blog describes work with Prof. Johnson and Davide Carozza ’09 on the fastest path around the bases. Continue reading »
This week’s Sunday Puzzle with Will Shortz on NPR is geometry. Answers due by 3 pm Thursday, October 11, 2012. Note added 14 October 2012. The answer was 82, with only 65 correct submissions. Continue reading »