Researchers from Brazil's Universidade Estadual de Campinas used a computer simulation to confirm paleontologist Stephen J. Gould's prediction that it is evolutionarily advantageous for cicadas to emerge at intervals lasting a prime number of years.

It’s not enough to be a good teacher. You have to want to be better.

Last week a fourth grade teacher in Philly invited me to work with her students. She emailed me to explain, ”We are moving into intersecting, parallel, and perpendicular lines. Would it be possible to focus your lessons Tuesday and Wednesday around this skill?” On Monday I was still thinking about possibilities. I was walking in South [...]

I have been spending considerable effort looking for situations to "mathematize" in my daily interactions with students. Sadly, upper-level students are so mark and answer focused that they spend little time wondering about emerging problems with me.This is not the case with my 8-year old friend.While he was inventing his word problem, he stumbled upon the idea of a middle. Specifically, he told me that four train tracks met in the middle. I quickly asked him if three tracks could also meet in […]

This will be a talk for specialists in philosophy, mathematics and especially the philosophy of mathematics at Fudan University. Abstract:  Much of the debate on pluralism in the philosophy of set theory turns on the question of whether every mathematical … Continue reading →