What's the Big Deal about Pi?
Alon Amit joins us on the antipode of Pi Day to counter the myths and mysteries of this most famous irrational number. There's nothing magical about a non-repeating string of digits. The real and prof...
25 Sep 202417min
Turning Math-Hating Prisoners into Mathematicians
Kate Pearce, a post-doc researcher at UT Austin, talks about her experience teaching math in a women's prison. Her remedial college algebra students came in with negative experience in math, so she de...
28 Aug 202422min
Stop Overselling Mathematics
Alon Amit, prolific Quora math answerer, argues that an honest representation of mathematical ideas is enough to spark interest in math. It's not necessary to exaggerate the role of math; the golden r...
24 Jul 202417min
Math for Kids: It's not a Spectator Sport
Dave Cole, the author of the Math Kids series of books, talks about introducing kids to math as a fun challenge and puzzle beyond the rote memorization they've come to expect. Kids who like to read ar...
26 Jun 202421min
Egyptian Fractions
Neil Epstein, Associate Professor of Mathematics at George Mason University, introduces us to the fractions used by the ancient Egyptians, well before the Greeks and Romans. The Egyptian fractions all...
22 Mai 202417min
Da Vinci's Math Teacher: Merging the Practical and Theoretical
Jeanne Lazzarini joins us again to introduce us to the mathematician Luca Pacioli, whose views of numbers and shapes influenced Leonardo da Vinci, leading to a period of art and invention. His book, D...
24 Apr 202416min
Alon Amit, sharing the mathematical journey in Quora and Math Circles
Alon Amit, probably the most prolific answerer of math questions on Quora, shares his reasons for his deep involvement. He seeks to share the journey, the exploration and stumbles of solving a problem...
27 Mar 202420min
Too Much Math in the Schools? These Books Counter That Narrow View
Lee Kraftchick continues his tour of books about math written for the non-mathematician like himself. We also can't let go of Gödel Escher Bach. Lee cites an opinion piece in the Washington Post, titl...
28 Feb 202420min
