Decompressing

The sun is finally striking through and that will give me an opportunity to clear out some brush on our property (nicknamed the High 'Chalet') and plant a lilac we bought last week. Landscaping gives me a welcoming decompression after a long day in front of the screen. Also, I'm learning to break off at 5 p.m. and just not think about deadlines and relax. (That's MUCH easier said than done when you work for yourself.) Family times goes into full swing with board games like backgammon, Scrabble. Or reading something purely for entertainment that has nothing to do with reviewing like my current evening diversion, The Little Book of Mathematical Principles by Robert Solomon. Also, Little d and I are slowly whittling our way through the first season of Raising Hope and the final season of Doctor Who featuring Peter Capaldi as Twelve. So as I like to say from time to time: "Easy, you know, does it, son."

—and now let me spin around the web and see what everyone else is doing.

Things That Interest Me...

This color-shifting lizard's skin morphs just as Alan Turing predicted.

What Happened To My 444?

Here Is the World's Favorite Number.

3, 107, 444

The number nineteen continually pops up in The Dark Tower series and it made me think of some favorite numbers of mine which include 3, 107, 444. Three, a prime, because of my family trio. 107, another prime, is a number from an address of my past that continually pops up, and 444 because I end up looking at the clock at exactly that time almost daily. Anybody have a favorite number and why. And, careful, you don't give me the password to your Swiss bank account by accident.

3.14159...

I'm a math enthusiast and love any chance to write an article dedicated to the subject. And stoked even more because March 14 is Pi Day. So here's five films where math is fused with the mystery/thriller and sci-fi genres.

The Magic Constant

Most of you know I’m a mathematics enthusiast and I regularly go to Pat Ballew’s superb blog. Today was the 59th day of the year and he posted a magic square with 59 as the center. Each row, column and diagonal adds up to 177. I decided to have a little fun and with Little d's help design my own grid with these numbers.

Here’s a little more on the squares.

A Mathematician’s Writer

Jorge Luis Borges, 1951.

"He is a mathematician’s writer. His short stories are like mathematical proofs, delicately constructed and with ideas laced together effortlessly. Each step is taken with precision and water-tight logic, yet the narrative is full of surprising twists and turns." —Marcus du Sautoy on Jorge Luis Borges, The Music of the Primes, 2003.

Going Into The Weekend...

I'm reading a lot (as usual) for work to include manuscripts, detective, and science fiction novels but strictly for recreation I'm enjoying THE MUSIC OF THE PRIMES by Marcus du Sautoy. I'm a math enthusiast but I don't think you have to be one to enjoy Sautoy's entertaining work on the history of prime number theory. Very much recommended. Besides the reading this weekend, I'm searching for a new backgammon app because I've pretty much conquered the old one which has become repetitive. If anyone out there has any suggestions I'd love to hear them. Other than that the family is gearing up for Halloween which brings a big smile to the little one and even bigger smiles to us old kids watching her dressing up and having fun.

Have a great weekend, friends.

Movies + Math = A Beautiful Formula

Here's my latest article: Movies + Math = A Beautiful Formula 

Art & Mathematics

Archimedes Thoughtful by Domenico Fetti (1620)