#math monday

Anime Math Lesson

We were gutted to learn about the death of mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani over the weekend. Prof. Mirzakhani is the only woman (and only Iranian person) to have been awarded a Fields Medal, often called the Nobel Prize of mathematics, but only awarded every four years and to mathematicians under 40 years old. Prof. Mirzakhani received the Fields Medal in 2014, and just turned 40 this past May.

The world has lost a ground-breaking and glass-ceiling-shattering mathematician far, far, too soon.

Image by @rachelignotofsky

Spotlight: Math Monday

This is a great example of a late 19th-century school book. The cover art usually doesn’t survive in this condition, which is unfortunate because often it is the only illustration in the whole book. Thank you Miss. Smith from Minneapolis for taking such good care or your text book.

Here are a few nineteenth century problems from our Historical Curriculum Collection. These are featured in the New Revised Edition of The American Intellectual Arithmetic: Containing an extensive collection of practical questions on the general principles of arithmetic. With concise and original methods of solution, which simplify many of the most important rules in written arithmetic. Published in 1866 by Sheldon & Company, New York.

At 3 dimes a peck, how many beans will $2.10 buy?

Two boys are 32 rods apart, and both running in the same direction, the hindermost boy gains on the other 4 rods each minute; in how many minutes will he overtake him?

How many mills in 4 cents?

At 5 shillings a yard, how many yards of cloth can be bought for £2 15 shillings?

If 7 grains of gold cost 2 dimes and 8 cents, how much will 10 pennyweights cost?

In 3yr. 3qr., how many Ells Flemish?

If 6 orifices fill a vessel in 3⅗ hours, how many of the same size will be required to fill it in 1/15 of an hour?

One last mathy post today because MATH IS COOL...and also makes for some very cool jewelry. 

Thanks to Evelyn Lamb (above, who I met in person at the West Coast Science Communication Retreat, aka #SciCommCamp) for introducing me to the beautiful works of Cubos Y Raices (translation: Cubes and Roots).  

Evelyn is wearing the Apolonio design, after Apollonius of Perga - each design is named after a famous mathematician. Math is Evelyn’s specialty. She’s currently a post-doc at the University of Utah and writes for Scientific American at Roots of Unity.    

What better day to highlight Emily Lakdawalla’s Fibonacci dress by @shenovafashion than on Fibonacci Day!* 

This is just one of the many fabulous designs by @shenovafashion (aka Holly). We’ve posted her work before and our own Emily has even modeled the Jupiter/brown dwarf design herself! 

- Summer

Just over a week ago, I met the coolest high schooler ever. Her name is Stella and not only does she know how to express her love of science (as you can see above), she designed a brilliant math mug for Cognitive Surplus. 

Stella attended the Los Angeles Math Circle at UCLA where she first learned about factorials. After wondering about zero factorial (0!), she figured out that it equaled one and thereby reasoned that “making no choice is a choice in itself!” She made a version of this mug for her dad for Father’s Day before collaborating with Cognitive Surplus to make the one shown here. You can read her story behind the design in her own words on their website.

I met Stella at the writing workshop as part of West Coast Science Communication Retreat (aka #SciCommCamp). The world is totally a better place with curious minds like hers in it - as clearly evidenced by her taste in tardigrades. ;)