General
Tiling with One Arc-Sided Shape
The Arc Approach A flat puzzle (tiling) with dozens or hundreds of identical pieces may sound a little dull and predictable. But what is the most interesting shape…
General
Articles
General
Which States Are The Best (& Worst) At Math
We gave adults across the country a numeracy test and here is what we found out… We thought it would be fun/interesting to take a few questions from…
General
Working as a Forensic Accountant: Valuable Core Characteristics
Ever since I was young, I knew that I would eventually end up perusing a career working with numbers. I have always found Math and numbers to be…
Applied Math
The Nightmare of Algorithm Interviews
A recent widespread custom in the high technology industry is the “coding interview” where applicants typically stand in front of a white board for three or more hours…
Applied Math
Book Review: Peak — Secrets from the New Science of Expertise
Peak — Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, 216 307 pages My Rating: 4/5 How does one…
Applied Math
Invasion of the Physicists
Wired recently published an article with the sensational title “Move Over, Coders — Physicists Will Soon Rule Silicon Valley” primarily concerned with physicists or former physicists working in…
Applied Math
Should You Get Started in Data Science?
I recently received an inquiry on how to get started in the currently hot field of data science. Perhaps a better question is: should you get started in…
General
Separating the Math and the Mathematician
I recently gave a talk Ronald Fisher and Maximum Likelihood Estimation on the pioneering statistician Ronald Fisher and his development of the method of maximum likelihood estimation, one…
Applied Math
Did Facebook’s News Feed Algorithm Elect Donald Trump?
Dozens of articles are trying to blame the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States on Facebook’s news feed algorithm, and especially its supposed propensity…
Applied Math
Pre-Election Polls That Were Wrong
Following up on my last post Big Data Flubs Donald Versus Hillary, here are some famous cases where pre-election polls were wrong. The Literary Digest Predicts Landon Will…
Applied Math
Big Data Flubs Donald Versus Hillary
Donald Trump’s unexpected upset victory over Hillary Clinton raises troubling questions about the use of mathematical models and “Big Data” in politics. With the possible exception of the…
Applied Math
Algebra, Asimov, and Missing Steps
When I was young, I could not get algebra. In particular, I would encounter magical operations like this: [latex]x + 5 = 8[/latex] followed by: [latex] x =…