From the Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, Marcus Giaquinto (UCL): Mathematical Proofs: The Beautiful and The Explanatory. World’s largest math proof takes up 200 terabytes. Bizarre proof to torment mathematicians for years to come: A rare appearance by enigmatic Shinichi Mochizuki brings faint optimism about his famously impenetrable work. A surprising new proof is helping to connect the mathematics of infinity to the physical world. The physicist-mathematician Miranda Cheng is working to harness a mysterious connection between string theory, algebra and number theory. A new breakthrough that bridges number theory and geometry is just the latest triumph for a close-knit group of mathematicians. David Neil Corfield (Kent): Reviving the Philosophy of Geometry. A previously unnoticed property of prime numbers seems to violate a longstanding assumption about how they behave.
Gabrielle Emanuel on a history lesson: When math was taboo. How a mathematical superstition stultified algebra for over a thousand years. The introduction to Leonhard Euler: Mathematical Genius in the Enlightenment by Ronald S. Calinger. The first chapter from Mathematical Knowledge and the Interplay of Practices by Jose Ferreiros. Ayalur Krishnan on how a hypothesis can be neither true nor false. The great mystery of mathematics is its lack of mystery. The introduction to Summing It Up: From One Plus One to Modern Number Theory by Avner Ash and Robert Gross.
How math secretly affects your life: Bill Gates reviews How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking by Jordan Ellenberg. Chaos theory, the prisoner’s dilemma, and why math isn’t really boring: Elena Holodny interviews Steven Strogatz, Joy of X: A Guided Tour of Math, from One to Infinity.
Stop ruining math: Rachel M. Steinig on reasons and remedies for the maladies of mathematics education. The man who will save math: Dan Meyer, the most famous math teacher in America, wants to radically change the way we learn math. Andrew Hacker on the wrong way to teach math. Down with Algebra II: It drives dropout rates and is mostly useless in real life — Andrew Hacker has a plan for getting rid of it. Andrew Hacker, an outspoken critic of mandatory algebra education, is asked to defend his contentions at the National Museum of Mathematics.
