A promising proof of the so-called Kadison-Singer conjecture was announced yesterday. Mathematicians are excited, because this conjecture is equivalent to a remarkable number of open problems in ...
http://www.soulphysics.org/2013/06/philosophy-and-physics-in-the-kadison-singer-conjecture/
This is not new, but it’s one of the very best math videos on the inter-tubes. It’s designed by Bill Thurston, who’s known not only for his mathematical talent (winning him…
http://www.soulphysics.org/2010/02/peek-inside-mind-of-mathematician/
Oh, the material conditional. Some love it, some hate it. But can we all agree that explaining it to the uninitiated is a perennial headache? If you’ve taught baby-logic, you…
http://www.soulphysics.org/2009/12/where-material-conditional-gets-its/
crank, n. A pejorative term for a person who holds a belief that a vast majority of their contemporaries consider false. A “cranky” belief is so wildly at variance with…
http://www.soulphysics.org/2009/07/springer-publishes-crank-proofs/
The despicable state of K-12 mathematics in the US has been summarized in one charming, witty, furious article by Paul Lockhart. That’s Lockhart the mathematician-turned-gradeschool-teacher, no...