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Calculus Is Deeply Irrational
You’re lying on a beautiful beach when you feel a tap on your shoulder, and suddenly you’re not at the beach at all — you’re in a classroom. The student who woke you looks apologe…
James Propp
monthly writings in and around mathematics by James Propp
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Visit mathenchant.wordpress.com → RSS feedOn Hacker News Sep 2018 – Nov 2025
2
Is Matrix Multiplication Ugly?
A few weeks ago I was minding my own business, peacefully reading a well-written and informative article about artificial intelligence, when I was ambushed by a passage in the article that aroused …
3
Industrious Dice
I’m a professional mathematician. That means somebody pays me to do math. I’m also a recreational mathematician. That means you might have to pay me to get me to stop. Wearing my recreational mathe…
4
How to Be Wrong (2016)
“To be wrong, or not to be wrong?” That is the wrong question. You are going to spend a lot of your time being wrong, especially if you become a scientist or mathematician. The question…
5
Picturing Mathematics
I’m a great believer in low-tech math. I don’t like to rely on things a computer tells me; what if there’s a bug in the code? I prefer trusting things that I can check for myself. At the same…
6
Marvelous Arithmetics of Distance
No reckoning allowed save the marvelous arithmetics of distance (from Smelling the Wind by Audre Lorde) Suppose a child comes up to you and says “I know 1 is odd and 2 is even, but I think 4 is mor…