Archive for October, 2005

I saw an excellent movie about Stephen Hawking recently. The acting was brilliant (Hawking's muscular deterioration and growing frustration were portrayed with realism and sensitivity), the story is compelling (tragedy, romance, discovery, brilliance) and there was strong encouragement to reflect on the meaning of life, the universe and everything. Ever read his "A Brief History […]

You've arrived here because the article you were looking for has expired. Maybe the topic became too old, or I was discussing some link and it's disappeared, or maybe the featured video no longer exists. Nothing is forever on the Web... You may find something interesting in these sections of the blog: Mathematics Learning mathematics […]

I saw an episode of "NUMB3RS" last night. The show is about an FBI agent who uses his mathematician brother to solve crimes. It is apparently "based on real cases" according to the official NUMB3RS site (which is no longer available). Things I liked: Mathematics is respected and even elevated to something useful (The mantra […]

On my mathematics website, Interactive Mathematics, I have a "Comments or Questions?" feature on every page. Some of the questions are, well, difficult to answer: how to work out mathematics? Others are much clearer: What is the degree of differential equation? Is differential equation has unique degree or not? But most, like the one above, […]

An interesting report from the US Depts of Commerce and Education, Visions 2020.2 Student Views on Transforming Education and Training Through Advanced Technologies (no longer available) outlines the results from asking 160,000 US, K-12 students "What would you like to see invented that will help your learning?". Some of the key outcomes (with my comments […]

Kincheloe, JL (Editor) ©2005, Peter Lang Publishing, NY. Summary Review Kincheloe's introduction is not your usual introduction for this kind of book. It is dark, brooding and cynical, especially regarding education in America. It talks of a "coup" around 1980 that changed the landscape of American education (and society) from one of healthy discussion and […]