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Math Science

Math Awareness Month 193

Posted by Zonk from the two-plus-two dept.
An anonymous reader writes: April is Mathematics Awareness Month. Mathematics of the Cosmos is the 2005 theme: Mathematics is at the core of our attempts to understand the cosmos at every level: Riemannian geometry and topology furnish models of the universe, numerical simulations help us to understand large-scale dynamics, celestial mechanics provides a key to comprehending the solar system, and a wide variety of mathematical tools are needed for actual exploration of the space around us."
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Math Awareness Month More

Math Awareness Month

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  • Is it...over? (Score:5, Funny)

    by -kertrats- ( 718219 ) on Friday April 01, 2005 @07:50PM (#12117622) Journal
    Can we come out now?
    • Only CmdrTaco knows for sure...
      And if he doesn't stop, we will eat him. I always did like mexican food.

    • Re:Is it...over? (Score:5, Funny)

      by zaxios ( 776027 ) <zaxios@gmail.com> on Friday April 01, 2005 @07:58PM (#12117685) Journal
      No, this is just a trick to get you to come out. The next story is about donkeys getting elected to the EU parliament and electricuting themselves with flagpoles.

      Stay hidden.
      • electricuting

        Sorry, I had to misspell that word to get into the CmdrTaco persona.
      • No, this is just a trick to get you to come out. The next story is about donkeys getting elected to the EU parliament and electricuting themselves with flagpoles.

        One of these years, some editor will fool us all by posting obviously false dross on April 1st, verifiably true stories April 2nd to lull us into a false sense of security, and then a series of plausible but false stories on April 3rd, culminating in an "APRIL FOOL'S!" headline at 12:01 on the 4th after we've already talked to people/blogged abo

    • Re:Is it...over? (Score:4, Funny)

      by T(V)oney ( 736966 ) on Friday April 01, 2005 @08:08PM (#12117744)
      I'd stay in. I hear it's going to rain Google Gulp through the night.

  • Zonk! (Score:5, Funny)

    by PMJ2kx ( 828679 ) on Friday April 01, 2005 @07:50PM (#12117623) Journal
    You can stop posting the April Foo---oh. It's real.

    • Re:Zonk! (Score:1, Funny)

      by Adam9 ( 93947 )
      No, it's actually fake. Go down near the bottom of the page, go to the contact page, then highlight all of the text on the page to reveal the hidden words that say, "Happy April Fools Math Nerds." Quite an elaborate prank.

  • counting (Score:5, Funny)

    by gmailflows ( 787787 ) * on Friday April 01, 2005 @07:51PM (#12117625) Homepage
    I think I will spend math awareness month counting. I've never tried to count as high as I could. I could keep a tally each night before sleep. Spend the month trying to count to however high a number as possible...
    • It'd be way too easy to cheat that way.

      I couldn't sit there incrementing by one integer at a time. I'd go crazy before I did. I'd probably end up counting like this: "10 to the 22nd, 10 to the 23rd, 10 to the 24th... fuck this.. infinity. . goodnight"
      • "10 to the 22nd, 10 to the 23rd, 10 to the 24th... fuck this.. infinity. . goodnight"

        Not to disturb you sleep or anything, but once you hit that basic infinity, you're far from done.

        Here's [wolfram.com] a good jumping off point.
        Pleasant dreams ;-)

    • Didn't I see you on Sesame Street? here? [hcmagazine.com]
    • 3706 was where I got to...but then being 6 at the time I realized I had better things to do with my life...like watching stray cats bring dead mice to our doorstep
    • In all honesty, I think the highest I could count (disregarding time constraints) is nine hundred and ninety-nine octillion, nine hundred and ninety-nine septillion, nine hundred and ninety-nine sextillion, nine hundred and ninety-nine quintillion, nine hundred and ninety-nine quadrillion, nine hundred and ninety-nine trillion, nine hundred and ninety-nine billion, nine hundred and ninety-nine million, nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine. You see, I'm just not sure what the n

  • Too late for you, Taco (Score:5, Funny)

    by zaxios ( 776027 ) <zaxios@gmail.com> on Friday April 01, 2005 @07:51PM (#12117633) Journal
    Popular [wikipedia.org] Internet [verisign.com] website "Slashdot [slashdot.org]" has ceased and desisted its run of distressingly [nih.gov] unfunny April Fool's news entries. Trolls everywhere have reported repeated bouts of jealousy [wikipedia.org] at the power of CmdrTaco to shit all over Slashdot - a capacity whose unhindered, total form [wikipedia.org] had eluded them.

  • Move along... (Score:4, Funny)

    by kryogen1x ( 838672 ) on Friday April 01, 2005 @07:54PM (#12117653)
    nothing to see... oh wait, nevermind.

  • woot! (Score:1)

    by Elote ( 649512 )
    math makes me hard! math chicks make me harder. I think we need a math apreciator appreciation month where math chicks are all over us, yeah...
    • ...can we mention something else?

      I'm really very glad that the onslaught of gags is over, but if that's all anybody will talk about, there should be a "Slashdot ain't broken no more!!" topic.

      Instead, if you care about mathematics appriciation, go look up something really facinating, like Godel's Incompleteness Theorem. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%F6del's_incompleten ess_theorem [wikipedia.org]

      I'm tired of jokes today.
      • Or if you want something that will make you think in iteresting ways, why not the proof of why the real numbers are a larger infinite set than the natural/integer/Q numbers and then ask them to find a set that stands inbetween the two in size(of course, this is what Godel's theorem is talking about). It actually leads back to what the parent post is talking about, but gives you a more tangible case of the incompleteness theorem in action.

  • Riemannian? (Score:3, Informative)

    by otisaardvark ( 587437 ) on Friday April 01, 2005 @07:58PM (#12117683)
    Most models of the universe are mixed signature, (normally Lorentzian), so they can approximate special relativity in the limiting cases.

    • Re:Riemannian? (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      "Riemannian geometry" is sometimes used as a catch-all phrase for both Riemannian and pseudo-Riemannian geometry. Besides, the geometry of space is Riemannian.

      P.S. Way to nitpick.

  • yes.. (Score:1)

    by xxpor ( 872779 )
    In soviet russia math is aware of you!
  • what with pi day and all?

  • Math Apps. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01, 2005 @08:01PM (#12117704)
    Applets and other software that demonstrates mathmatical principles.
    http://www.edinformatics.com/il/il_math.htm [edinformatics.com]

    http://smard.cqu.edu.au/Database/Teaching/JavaMath .html [cqu.edu.au]

    [Physics]
    http://faraday.physics.utoronto.ca/PVB/Harrison/Fl ash/ [utoronto.ca]

    • Math Apps-II (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Merlot [merlot.org]

      SMETE [smete.org]

      ["An Agent-Based Architecture
      for Supporting High-Level Search Activities
      in Federated Digital Libraries
      for Computer Science"]
      Daffodil [daffodil.de]*

      *Just a fancy way of saying a front-end to online libraries.
  • Can anyone express Slashdot as an equation?

  • Finally (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Omnieiunium ( 872399 )
    Finally some real news. Thank you slashdot gods.

  • Mathematics Awareness Month Theme Essays (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Luddite ( 808273 ) on Friday April 01, 2005 @08:11PM (#12117758)

    "The exponential loss of readership due to posting crappy April Fool's day stories"

  • Math+Awareness=null

  • looks legit to me (Score:4, Informative)

    by lha2 ( 313035 ) on Friday April 01, 2005 @08:20PM (#12117805)
    Whois says it's not commander taco (unless he went to hella trouble):

    Server Used: [ whois.pir.org ]

    http://www.mathaware.org/ [mathaware.org] = [ 130.44.204.33 ]

    Domain ID: D68151192-LROR
    Domain Name: MATHAWARE.ORG
    Created On: 22-Mar-2001 18: 07: 59 UTC
    Last Updated On: 22-Oct-2004 22: 18: 24 UTC
    Expiration Date: 22-Mar-2008 18: 07: 59 UTC
    Sponsoring Registrar: Network Solutions LLC (R63-LROR)
    Status: CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED
    Registrant ID: 6075150-NSI
    Registrant Name: American Mathematical Society
    Registrant Organization: American Mathematical Society
    Registrant Street1: 201 CHARLES ST
    Registrant Street2:
    Registrant Street3:
    Registrant City: PROVIDENCE
    Registrant State/Province: RI
    Registrant Postal Code: 02904-2213
  • I had this really funny thing I was gonna post if I saw another April Fools post. Well, thanks for ruining it. I'll find something else to post...

    Uhhh why April?

  • Celebrate with a Good Book (Score:5, Informative)

    by Jeremy Erwin ( 2054 ) on Friday April 01, 2005 @09:25PM (#12118058) Journal
    I plan to celebrate April (and May, and possibly June) by reading Roger Penrose's The Road to Reality an entertaining tome of but 1100 pages that purports to teach the reader all the math he needs to understand modern physics. Penrose is the ultimate optimist, but I must confess, I'm having difficulty after only chapter 8 (Riemann surfaces and complex mappings) of 34. Maybe, if I don't pay too much attention to the math, I'll breeze right through it. But then, that would defeat the whole purpose of Math Awareness Month.

  • Where to go from here? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Just Some Guy ( 3352 ) <kirk+slashdot@strauser.com> on Friday April 01, 2005 @09:25PM (#12118061) Homepage Journal
    I came "this close" to completing a math minor. I recently read Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea [barnesandnoble.com] and became interested in picking up where I left off. Upon the recommendation of the math department head at the school I graduated from, I bought a textbook on topology [yahoo.com] and have been reading that at night before I go to bed.

    Any suggestions on what to tackle next? I really liked set theory, Boolean calculus, and so on (which means the topology book has been really enjoyable so far). My main goal is to be able to read the occasional article on higher math that filters through Slashdot, and the various interesting-looking physics books I find when I make it in to a city with a real bookstore (the best my town has to offer is a Hastings).

    I know that the real answer is "whatever I'm interested in", but I haven't been exposed to enough math beyond multivariate calculus to know what I'm interested in. Was there any class you took or book you read that made you look at the world differently or left you hungry for more?

    • Was there any class you took or book you read that made you look at the world differently or left you hungry for more?

      For the layperson, number theory and permutations are very accessible and interesting. These areas of math don't require alot of prior knowledge of obscure topics, formulea, or theories that won't really interest most people. Plus, there is a possibility (albeit a very slim one) that you could solve some interesting problem whereas most types of math require alot of topic specific knowle

    • Re:Where to go from here? (Score:5, Informative)

      by rsilverman ( 266807 ) on Friday April 01, 2005 @09:46PM (#12118126)
      Some of my favorites:

      "Topics in Algebra" by Herstein

      "Topology" by Hocking and Young [Dover]

      "Counterexamples in Topology" by Steen & Seebach [Dover]

      "A Mathematical Introduction to Logic" by Enderton

      "Galois Theory" by Stewart

    • Re:Where to go from here? (Score:2, Informative)

      by kfg ( 145172 )
      Bell's "Men of Mathematics" is not to be missed.

      KFG

    • Topology Text (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      If you're really interested, and have a little more background, you should read Hatcher's "Algebraic Topology." It's available free at his home page [cornell.edu].

      • Re:Topology Text (Score:4, Informative)

        by Coryoth ( 254751 ) on Friday April 01, 2005 @11:50PM (#12118486) Homepage Journal
        I'll second that, Hatcher's is a great book on algebraic topology which is, in itself, a vastly interesting topic. You'll need some background in modern algebra. If you don't have that, there are plenty of good textbooks in it. I always quite liked the one by Fraleigh (A First Course in Abstract Algebra), but your taste may differ.

        Jedidiah.

    • Re:Where to go from here? (Score:4, Informative)

      by Coryoth ( 254751 ) on Friday April 01, 2005 @11:47PM (#12118476) Homepage Journal
      Given a good grasp of topology, and presuming you enjoy that, a couple of directions to aim for are Differential Geometry (which gets you a nice understanding of General Relativity, the shape of the universe, and that sort of thing), or if you want to head in a more pure direction, Algebraic Topology. Both those topics are "hard" in the sense that they may require material from other fields, advanced calculus for Differential Geometry, modern algebra for Algebraic Topology. Both are interesting topics in their own right though, and it should be easy enough to pick up a textbook on one of those for some background reading before starting in on your topic of choice.

      Jedidiah.
      • I really appreciate the suggestions. They all sounded intresting and look like good jumping-off points for further study. Thanks for taking the time to reply, and extra thanks for the fact that no one commented about me keeping math textbooks for nighttime reading.
    • Actually noting that your Topology textbook is from the Dover series, you might want to try Ian Stewart's Concepts of Modern Mathematics [amazon.com] which is a pretty good survey of the field, and would give you a nice sampling of the possible topics you could delve into further. If your not a mathematician, but want a good, and serious, explanation of some of the more advanced topics available, it's a great book.

      Jedidiah.
    • If you haven't taken an analysis class, I found real analysis to be quite interesting (particularly if you like set theory). Complex calculus (and complex analysis) also gets pretty interesting. I actually just finished a book called "Fermat's Enigma" which isn't too heavy on the actual math, but does an excellent job explaining the history and solution of Fermat's last theorem.
    • I recently read and enjoyed "Mathematics" by Keith Devlin (revised and enlarged edition, March 15, 2001). Each chapter is a readable discussion of an important 20th century mathematical theorem: Four color map theorem, Fermat's last theorem, etc. Since so many important results have been found in the last century, it is not a short book.

    • check out zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance by robert m. pirsig. it is nice book if you're given to wondering [glug.org] where [glug.org] and/or how [glug.org] to wander [glug.org].


    • Seeing as that your background is less than that of a math major, I would suggest you continue to pursue breadth instead of detph at this point. A undergraduate level text in graph theory or combinatorics would be a good choice for a next step, as would an introductory text on probability.

      Once you see the major topics available and if you are still interested, then it is time to study a single topic from the undergraduate to graduate level.

  • Math Does Not Exist (Score:3, Insightful)

    by lousyd ( 459028 ) on Friday April 01, 2005 @09:30PM (#12118075)
    Mathematics is at the core of our attempts to understand the cosmos at every level

    Ha! April Fool's! That's obviously not true.

  • Are there any books/sites/et al that start from "simple" math like advanced trig and go to the highest forms? So far most places I go start at a certain place, like Wolfram's site, and go up.
    If you don't know exactly what they mean it is basically useless. I even know the general ideas of stuff but then they add more.
    E.g. they give a page on conic sections. We all know that. But then they add stuff like R and sets and other things but miss the stuff in between.
    It's like they have high school stuff and docto

  • "Calculus is just a theory!" (Score:5, Funny)

    by tenzig_112 ( 213387 ) on Friday April 01, 2005 @09:41PM (#12118116) Homepage
    Oh, God. Have you seen this one?
    The evolution/creationism debate has gone to the next level in a small Pennsylvania town [ridiculopathy.com]

    Summary for the link deprived: Parents are furious with a math teacher for refusing to present Biblical cubit-based mathematics alongside higher math concepts, and not allowing children with strong faith objections to opt out of certain classes. They also want textbooks to carry warning stickers: Calculus is just a theory and not mentioned anywhere in the Bible.

  • April is Math Month?

    Huh. That figures.
  • in last year's topic on the mathematics of (mostly large scale) networks. http://www.mathaware.org/mam/04/index.html [mathaware.org]
  • I love those non-dithered text made in MS Paint look alike icons. [mathaware.org] A 12kb JPEG shouldn't have any sharp edges. To their point, there are a lot of different shades of green. However, they couldn't spare a couple shades of grey to make the letters look the least bit smooth?

    Sure to add a touch of class to any web site.

  • Protests at Math Awareness Month (Score:4, Funny)

    by dangitman ( 862676 ) on Saturday April 02, 2005 @01:06AM (#12118676)
    A large group of Irrational Numbers picketed this month's Math Awareness Parade. Waving reams of perforated computer paper, they screamed "We're here, we're queer, get used to it!" and spitting on passing integers.
    • There were a lot of irrational nrs there. But, they were nothing compared to all the new-age transcedental hippy nrs hanging around. Woowee they'd never stop spouting of their nrs and flashing you their digits.
  • the cosmos isn't mathematical?

    What if, deep down, it's just completely arbitrary?

    I haven't seen any compelling proof that the cosmos IS mathematical. I've seen math able to model things to a great degree of precision, but it never seems "perfect", and there always seems to be someone coming along every so often and spins everything upside down.

    I have more sense than to think this is an opening for metaphysics - on the contrary - that said, I do frequently wonder what will happen in a post-mathematical

    • the answer is 42. sounds pretty mathematical to me.
    • Except with statistics, deviation from the mathematical model can itself be described through mathematics.

      But I would argee with you that the universe is probably not "fundamentally" mathematical. Instead, mathematics is just a really useful tool for describing things.

    • what if, what if, what if an apple!=an apple (Score:4, Insightful)

      by xlurker ( 253257 ) on Saturday April 02, 2005 @08:20AM (#12119428) Homepage
      Short answer: it doesn't matter.

      Long answer: Mathematics is based on the basic rules we have inferred from observing reality. If somehow reality changed, then we would infer other basic rules.

      IOW Mathematics is about inferring basic rules and then building on top of these rules to come to (interesting) conclusions.

      There will always be certain basic rules as long as you are in a system where you can make differenciable observations.

      What you asked is a bit philosophy and a bit silly and unfortunately in the tone of anti-science ideologues (sorry).

      I'll explain:

      • I haven't seen any compelling proof that the cosmos IS mathematical.

        What is that supposed to mean?!
        Mathematics is not a religious ideology or cult. It is a though process. Reality simply "is". No matter what you're compelled to believe in, reality will not change.

      • ... happen in a post-mathematical phase of human understanding ofthe cosmos.

        what is that supposed to mean!?
        "post-mathematical" phase... that might be something somebody would say that has no idea what math is .... I already explained the basics on the top. As long as people will be setting up rules to live with reality, they will be practicing math. After that, it's all just a matter of who has the better math.

        If someone always gets shortchanged at the market-place of reality because their "post-mathematical" view of the reality of counting credits is farther advanced than the grocers, then they aren't going to get very much farther on the enlightment road. They also aren't going to get very far in a space ship in cold vacuum if they can't model harsh reality well. There is no such thing as debating, convincing or coming to a consensus with reality. It is does what it does and doesn't care what you think.

      • I'm so wrapped up in and surrounded by the mathematical model, that it seems irrefutable. But a look at history provides a proud narrative of ingenious folly.

        I really don't know what to think... are you being pleasantly open-minded and just wondering out loud or (I've heard this kind of talk before) do you have an anti-scientific agenda to push here?

        If our models or reality are wrong, then they will simply be adjusted to fit reality better. But the though process, the process of trying, testing, proposing, refuting, accepting or even simply calling BS will always stay.

      Netwons models of force and gravity turned out to not always work. We still use them because they usually work well enough. In the extreme cases Einsteins modifications of his models are used.

      Did science change after modifying the models? No. The process of science was to change the models because the modifications worked better.

      • I'll explain: * I haven't seen any compelling proof that the cosmos IS mathematical. What is that supposed to mean?! Mathematics is not a religious ideology or cult.

        As Einstein said, "I don't believe in mathematics. I believe in God. I trust mathematics." Science (or math) can never prove a theory definitively. The possibility of an alternative, better theory is always open. But the usefulness of a theory is based on how well it models known phenomena and this we can trust.

  • I appreciate mathematicians almost more than I appreciate math itself; only they would be able to develop the idea, first, of a quantity so large as to be boundless, and then hit on the idea that there are small infinities (like the sum of all real numbers between zero and one) and large infinities (like the sum of all real numbers.)

    For some reason, I was the only person in my math class who thought that was even remotely kickass. Hmm.

    • take some more classes (Score:5, Interesting)

      by xlurker ( 253257 ) on Saturday April 02, 2005 @06:39AM (#12119279) Homepage
      I don't know how old you are or what level classes you referred to, but if you really liked it that much, then take some more classes. If you're good enough at it, then you will really like:

      Analysis, Number Theory and Function Theory

      Like any other discipline, once you grasp the basics , admiring the cleverness and hacks of the people in that discipline can be very awe inspiring.

      Math is an intimidating discipline, usually because many things have to be thought out thoroughly. Proofs can sometimes be very long. An incredible part is when you find or learn about alternative proofs. The ones that are only a few lines, that at the core contain a clever new idea that for some strange reason had eluded everyone for ages.

      In a way math and mathematical proofs are like lock-picking. In the worst case you have to use a drill or explosives, in the best cases - the cases that are always hoped to be found - the are ways to open the vault by listening, maybe using a magnet or string and giving it a final kick.

  • Be aware it's MATHS not Math!
    at least on this side of the pond.


  • Cut the knot: the best Mathematics site (Score:3, Informative)

    by elbow_spur ( 749878 ) on Saturday April 02, 2005 @09:06AM (#12119523)
    The best hands-on mathematics experience, hands down, is at

    http://www.cut-the-knot.org/ [cut-the-knot.org]

    The topics are accessible, and often accompanied with applets.

    I've used this material to give math talks to high school kids - they love it.

    Here is a real favourite:

    Make a polygon by picking a bunch of points on graph paper (just the grid intersection points) and connecting these points by straight lines. The spiky looking thing is technically called a lattice polygon. A really cool way to calculate the area is to (A) count the grid points strictly inside the polygon (B) count the grid points lying exactly on the edges and vertices, then do (A)+(B)/2-1 Voila!

    The applet and explanation is here:
    http://www.cut-the-knot.org/ctk/Pick.shtml [cut-the-knot.org]

    (However, the so-inclined may prefer to fool around with this by themselves, first!)

    There are many^(many) phenomena out there like pick's theorem. Call them math paradoxes, or theorems, or whatever, but there's lots of mathematics that is easy to perceive and is mysterious as anything. Mathematics awareness can begin by first learning about and experiencing these brain bending phenomena, and then SEEKING an explanation.

  • ....metric conversions.

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