Monthly Archives: June 2007
Quantum numbers
Quantum computing gets a lot of attention, but we don’t hear much about quantum mathematics. The very idea is an affront to Platonist thinkers everywhere—those of us who consider the elements of mathematics to be independent of the physical universe. … Continue reading
Posted in computing, mathematics, physics
2 Comments
More Gauss anecdotage
The story about young Gauss and his trick for summing an arithmetic series just won’t stop. My archive now includes 134 versions. Almost all the recent additions were discovered by Barry Cipra. (For a recap on what this is all … Continue reading
Posted in mathematics
Comments Off
V1@gra
I watched the spelling bee on TV a couple of weeks ago and was stumped by word after word: aniseikonia, oberek, randkluft, cachalot, schuhplattler, cilice. It’s all enough to send you reeling back to Andrew Jackson or Mark Twain or … Continue reading
Posted in computing, modern life
3 Comments
Twenty-six twiddles suffice
Among the 250 million Rubik’s cubes manufactured since 1980, how many lie abandoned in a scrambled state, having never regained their original configuration since being taken out of the box? Most of them, I would guess. Now comes word that … Continue reading
Posted in computing, games, mathematics, problems and puzzles
Comments Off
More factoidal facts
Anthony G. Pakes of the University of Western Australia shines further light on the “factoidal” function, discussed earlier here on bit-player and in the May-June issue of American Scientist: I found your article about factoid(n) very interesting, and I offer … Continue reading
Posted in mathematics
Comments Off