Jim Manzi has what looks to be an interesting new book
Category Archives: Mathematics
Seventeen Equations
…that changed the world. One of the signs of the disaster that is modern academia is that it is not only acceptable, but for many a point of pride, that they don’t understand math.
[Via Geek Press]
Affirmative Action
…and radical politics. As he notes, let’s hope that SCOTUS slaps down this evil once and for all.
Bernard Beard
Some of you may recall numerous comments on statistics and physics here by commenter “bbbeard.” Sadly, I just received notification that he died over the weekend:
Where: Memphis Botanical Gardens (in the Japanese Garden)
750 Cherry RoadMemphis, TN 38117
Phone: 901.636.4106Date: Saturday, April 21, 2012
Time: Gathering at 10:00am with Service to begin at 10:30am. Lunch to follow, ending at 1:30pm
Donations can be made to either of the following:
Keystone School
119 E. Craig Place
San Antonio, TX 78212
Phone: 210.735.4022Donations Link: https://websvr.keystoneschool.org/cc/misc_fund.asp
Or
MIT Department of Physics
77 Massachusetts Ave., Bldg. 4-309
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
Phone: 617.452.2807
Donations Link: https://giving.mit.edu/givenow/browse-designations.dyn?categoryId=DP,DPPH
He was a former colleague of mine at the ARES Corporation (though I never worked with him). The comments section here (as well, of course, as his friends and family) will miss him.
The Rings Of Earth
What would they look like from the surface?
Derbyshire Update
Apparently, for those concerned, the prognosis is good.
Complex Societies
Why they need simple laws.
[Update a few minutes later]
Are regulations strangling the economy? Samuelson thinks so.
Derbyshire
Well, this sucks, big time. Hope he can beat it.
Angry Birds
The Ongoing Educational Disaster
Next up: math textbooks.
Really, this shouldn’t be that hard. Pre-calculus math hasn’t changed much over the past several decades. But it all comes down to the perverse incentives in the public-school monopoly, in which having a worthless degree in “education” is more important than having actual useful knowledge to impart to your charges.