It’s Pi Day! Which, OK, whatever, if you were really hardcore about celebrating you’d figure out what nanosecond corresponds to 3.14159 or whatever and pop the Moet then. But you didn’t and you won’t so whatever, right? Hang on, that doesn’t mean we can’t still have some fun with the nerdiest holiday in the land, thanks to YouTube mathemagician Vihart.
Getting your head around public key encryption isn’t easy, even if you’re a dab hand at maths. Prime factors? Modular arithmetic? Say what? Instead, here’s a totally straightforward explanation that starts from the basics, using paint mixing as an example.
The Batman Equation is great, but Batman is a sociopathic egomaniac. Totally not appropriate for Valentine’s day. Send the Love Equation instead.
When the global financial markets began to collapse in 2007, everybody turned on the banks and bankers — and they haven’t stopped since. But one of the culprits was a humble piece of mathematics: the Black-Scholes equation.
Many of us don’t learn in optimal ways. We know that we forget new material, neglect to review older material, and study in ways that elevate cramming and procrastination to art forms. But there is research about how to be more efficient in these things. For example, dating back to 1885, there is a rich literature that explores how timing our learning of new and old material can affect education.
If you’re anything like me, you play darts rarely. And when you do, you’re drunk. Ignoring the fact that that’s a dangerous combination, here’s how to try and maximise your chance of winning, ineptitude aside.
Thirteen times. That’s how many times students from St Mark’s School in Southborough, Massachusetts managed to fold it as part of their studies. That’s right, kids are actually going to school to learn how to fold TP.
The road to greatness starts at an early age, and a children’s book dedicated to introductory calculus will put your kid on the right path. Has a Nobel Prize winner ever credited Green Eggs and Ham for their success? Exactly.
If you’re neck-deep in maths work, or just nostalgic for the high school days of your TI-83+, fire up the big G: it’ll now serve you as a graphing calculator. Time to make sine waves!
