mathwonk's latest activity

Fascinating subject. In the 8 years since the previously linked article was published, interest and controversy about this topic...

I try to emphasize to my classes that, to understand any statement, it is crucial to make precise what the terms in it mean, to give not...

Exactly for the reason you point out, one should not, in my opinion, ever assume there is a universal definition for any mathematical...

Here is a link to a beautiful and eloquent talk given recently by a friend of mine, Michael Comenetz, containing the gentlest and...

There's an element of subjectivity in the quality of the book. I aways suggest, if you have a chance, drop by a bookstore* , or school...

A way to construct topological manifolds from closed subsets of Euclidean space is through triangulations. For example, one can imagine...

In terms of quality of exposition versus price, there can perhaps be nothing to match the great, but succinct and theoretical, treatment...

The good news is: once one appreciates the need for a Riemann sum type definition of a complex path integral, it is possible then to use...

real Calculus comes before complex calculus. And when learning real calculus, the topics that will be especially useful in complex...

As to the breadth of Galois' research, the third part of his testamentary letter, on integrals, displays keen insight into basic...

In my case, "I am older than dirt" seems more accurate, (or for purists, perhaps "I am older than dirt is"?) But probably both make the...

There is a fundamental problem here: \nabla \times (y + 5, 2z, y) = (-1,0,-1) is not zero, so (y + 5, 2z, y) cannot be the gradient of a...

@Hornbein: they give us the syllabus, and the criterion for passing, and then they tell us we cannot fail the number of students who...

@sevensages I have read this thread with some amusement. I am a grammar Nazi, and as some on this forum know, I often correct people's...

Back in maybe 1965 my Dad tried to flunk half of the students in his engineering class. The University of Michigan wouldn't let him do...