Vision Under the Influence of Math

Here is a pic from the Flickr photo group called "Everything's Geometery". It is a continuous stream of people posting photos that reflect a geometric/mathematical aesthetic. I'm not sure what that means. Maybe clean lines. Traditional figures. Order. I'll ask Carianne later. I do know that the photos tend to be similar to the types of visuals that arrest me as I go through a day. One of the most common photos types in this stream involves stairs, particularly the play of shadow on stairs. I'm not sure why that is so powerful, but if you have ever stopped to admire a staircase climb the side of a building, you might be a math geek.

pic by Juilien'

Shirley Ellis's Name Game

Probably one of the coolest algorithms of all times. I love the fact that the name game is not a song, but a means to generate a whole series of songs given a cede. Formally, the name game is a lot more interesting (if not a little sillier) than a normal song. The Name Game is the brain child of Shirley Ellis. She recorded it in 1965. (Somehow I thought the song was much older.) The placard below is from some promotional material of the time, and actually explains the rules (or algorithm). Note the exceptions so we don't end up swearing.

Geek of the Week: Lee Bradley

Welcoming the newest member to our math community Lee Bradely. Lee has just been hired on as a full time math tutor in the Academic Support Center. He gave me a great problem. You have to create 5 rectangles, such that the length of each side of one of the rectangles is an integer 1-10. You have to use all 10 numbers, so no sides of the same length. Furthermore, the resulting rectangles have to tile together to form a square. He has sworn there are 4 solutions and has given me one. Stop over in the ACS to say hello and get a hint from him. Also check out Lee's website. He uses mathematics to make beautiful puzzles.

Numbers Everywhere

This has to be a familiar phenomenon for anyone who spends a good part of each day working with numbers. I'll often look at the clock and get a charge out of the fact that it is 12:34, or 12:21, or 3:57. Just as geeky, getting excited about a friend that lives on 169 W Center St. (I mean imagine if your address was a perfect square!) There is a famous anecdote of the mathematician Ramanujan (the self-taught prodigy mentioned in Good Will Hunting). He was visited by GH Hardy who rode in a taxi with the number 1729. Hardy asserted that it was a dull number. Ramanujan still laying in bed said, it was the smallest number expressible as the sum of two distinct pairs of perfect cubes (1729= 1^3+12^3=9^3+10^3). This is incredible to come up with off the top of the head. My geek powers extend nowhere near this far. But....I did I pick up my father in Boston last weekend and loved the fact his conference hotel room was 735. 7 divides 35, cool. And 7,3,5 are the first three odd primes. Just had to share. Enjoy the pick.

Literature Numbers

Fenimore Cooper used almost eleven hundred Shakespeare quotations as epigraphs and/or chapter headings in his thirty-plus novels.

From The Last Novel (David Markson)

Geek of the Week: Jesse Abbot

Jesse pulled off another great evening in his Proof & Possibility series. Barry Loewer was incredibly engaging as he walked us through the potential philisophic implications of quantum physics. I know nothing about physics and was riveted. When's the next one? (btw, it was packed make sure to get there early next time if you want a good seat.)

If you missed it, they should have a podcast of the lecture and Q&A pretty soon.

(Sorry about the pic Jesse. I have to get a better camera. I'm still at 4 Megapixels. That is nowhere near geeky enough.)

Really Cool Visual Algorithm for Multiplication

One of my students in math for Liberal Arts dug this up on YouTube. I had never seen this technique for multiplication before. I love it--completely visual. Thanks, Rachael!