The May-June issue of American Scientist has been out for a week or so. My “Computing Science” column talks about a curious randomized version of the factorial function, which for lack of a better name I’ve called a factoidal function. I encourage everyone to rush right out and read all about it, but that’s not […]

It’s tax time for Usaians. I’ve been plodding through the thick book of forms and instructions, tips and cautions, tables and worksheets and schedules and Paperwork Reduction Act notices. The unwelcome annual ritual always reminds me of the words of Hermann Weyl:

Our federal income tax law defines the tax y to be paid in terms […]

This is a belated update to my most recent post (which is not at all recent!). If you recall, we were discussing simple playground protocols for assigning players to teams. In one case the captains of teams A and B choose players in the order ABAB…; the alternative order is ABBA…. I presented some simulation […]