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Tag Archives: Mathematics
So when is Cheryl’s birthday?
Happy Birthday in advance, Cheryl! #trickquestion #treatquestion rewards.singtel.com/rewards/deligh… http://t.co/BJFim48rWi— (@Singtel) April 13, 2015
“The coinflipper’s dilemma”
That is the title of this little paper by economist Steve Landsburg. In his blog post with the same title, Professor Landsburg introduces the coin-flipper’s dilemma with this story: When I was in high school, my English teacher must have had … Continue reading
Applied mathematics (birthday cake edition)
Is there a “right” way to cut cake?
3.1415926535 8979323846 2643383279 5028841971 6939937510 5820974944 5923078164 0628620899 8628034825 3421170679 …
The enigmatic irrational number π … to 100 decimal places. While you contemplate this strange and infinite number, do you detect a pattern, or is all you see pure randomness? Happy National π Day! Go celebrate with your favorite π product. (Hat tip … Continue reading
Undiluted Hocus-Pocus
That is the title of Martin Gardner’s autobiography. Mr Gardner, who wrote the popular Mathematical Games column for Scientific American for 25 years, is one of our intellectual heroes and role models. Here are three of our favorite excerpts from his last book: 1. … Continue reading
What is the optimal population frequency?
According to this reputable source, every day on Earth an estimated 371,124 people are born and 154,995 people die. The amazing mathematics website Wolfram|Alpha converts these raw numbers into a hertz frequency as follows: As Jason Kottke writes in his excellent blog kottke.org, one of … Continue reading
Is economics a science?
Economists Noah Smith (“A few words about math”) and Bryan Caplan (“Economath fails the cost benefit test”) have recently presented powerful and persuasive critiques of the over-use of mathematics in economics, but prior probability thinks they both miss the larger question, … Continue reading
prior probability 