Slice of pi
This was originally posted to the newsgroup talk.origins on April Fool’s Day 1998, as well as sent to a list of New Mexican scientists and citizens interested in evolution, and printed in the April...
View ArticleMath riots
Legend has it that the following column appeared in the Chicago Tribune, DuPage County edition, Tuesday June 29, 1993, page 2-1. MATH RIOTS PROVE FUN INCALCULABLE ERIC ZORN News Item (June 23, 1993) —...
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The mathematical theory of big game hunting I
The following is the famous, seminal paper by H. Petard*, which appeared in the American Mathematical Monthly in 1938 and introduced to the academic community at large the mathematical theory of big...
View ArticleThe mathematical theory of big game hunting II
Following the seminal paper by H. Petard in 1938 introducing to the mathematical theory of big game hunting, a good many others were prompted to add to this literature. The following is one of these...
View ArticleNebraska to repeal the law of gravity
NEBRASKA TO REPEAL LAW OF GRAVITY LINCOLN, NE. Today legislators in the Nebraska State Senate have begun debate on a controversial measure to forbid the teaching of gravity in all institutions...
View ArticleFamously amusing quotation
The four branches of arithmetic — ambition, distraction, uglification and derision. (Lewis Caroll, Alice in Wonderland) As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as...
View ArticleWhat is a mathematician?
The good Christian should be aware of mathematicians and all those who make empty prophecies. The danger already exists that mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and...
View ArticlePoetic wisdom
For people with small horizons, every function is constant. (Oscar Bruno) All you need for differentiation is a strong right arm and a weak mind. (Ron Getoor) Obvious is in the the of the beholder....
View ArticleModern engineering design principles
The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet 8.5 inches. That’s an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that’s the way they built them in England, and the...
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Murphy’s Law
–D. L. Klipstein Murphy’s Law, in its simplest form, states that “If anything can go wrong, it will.” Or to state it in more exact mathematical form: where ↵ is the mathematical symbol for “hardly...
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