Log24

Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Publication Date

Filed under: General — m759 @ 6:14 pm

Meanwhile, here

Of Making Many Books There Is No End

Filed under: General — Tags: , , — m759 @ 10:43 am

Published today —

Related quotation —

Cover art published today —

Some mathematics related to the The Fixed Stars  cover art,
from a post of May 1, 2020

The Escape from Plato’s Cave to . . .

See also Numberland and Walpurgisnacht Geometry.

Friday, May 1, 2020

The H-State

Filed under: General — Tags: , , , , — m759 @ 9:27 pm

Related pure mathematics —

The Escape from Plato’s Cave to . . .

See also Numberland and Walpurgisnacht Geometry.

Monday, May 14, 2018

Logos at Harvard

Filed under: General,Geometry — Tags: , , — m759 @ 3:01 pm

In 2013, Harvard University Press changed its logo to an abstract "H."

Harvard University Press Logo, Before and After

Both logos now accompany a Harvard video first published in 2012,
"The World of Mathematical Reality." 

In the video, author Paul Lockhart discusses Varignon's theorem
without naming Varignon (1654-1722) . . .

Paul Lockhart on geometry

A related view of "mathematical reality" —

Note the resemblance to Plato's Diamond.

Blackboard Jungle continues . . .

Filed under: General — Tags: — m759 @ 1:42 pm

… from previous posts on Paul Lockhart.

For more on the new logo of the AMS as a symbol of
politically correct mediocrity, see a post of Jan. 10, 2018.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Art History

Filed under: General — Tags: — m759 @ 12:00 pm

Quoted in the March 13 post Blackboard Jungle:

"Every morning you take your machete into the jungle
and explore and make observations, and every day
you fall more in love with the richness and splendor
of the place."

— Paul Lockhart, A Mathematician's Lament

More from Lockhart's jungle—

Mathematical objects, even if initially inspired by some aspect of reality (e.g., piles of rocks, the disc of the moon), are still nothing more than figments of our imagination.

Not only that, but they are created by us and are endowed by us with certain characteristics; that is, they are what we ask them to be….

… in Mathematical Reality, because it is an imaginary place, I actually can have pretty much whatever I want….

The point is that there is no reality to any of this, so there are no rules or restrictions other than the ones we care to impose…. Make up anything you want, so long as it isn’t boring. Of course this is a matter of taste, and tastes change and evolve. Welcome to art history!

— Lockhart, Paul (2009-04-01). A Mathematician's Lament: How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating and Imaginative Art Form  (pp. 100-104). Bellevue Literary Press. Kindle Edition. 

Related material in this journal: Bellevue and Wechsler.

See also Gombrich in this journal and in the following:

Related material (Click for some background.) —

From a novel by Chinua Achebe

Monday, January 5, 2015

Gitterkrieg*

Filed under: General,Geometry — Tags: , — m759 @ 2:00 pm
 

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Blackboard Jungle

Filed under: Uncategorized — m759 @ 8:00 AM 

From a review in the April 2013 issue of
Notices of the American Mathematical Society

"The author clearly is passionate about mathematics
as an art, as a creative process. In reading this book,
one can easily get the impression that mathematics
instruction should be more like an unfettered journey
into a jungle where an individual can make his or her
own way through that terrain."

From the book under review—

"Every morning you take your machete into the jungle
and explore and make observations, and every day
you fall more in love with the richness and splendor 
of the place."

— Lockhart, Paul (2009-04-01). 
A Mathematician's Lament:
How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating
and Imaginative Art Form 
 (p. 92).
Bellevue Literary Press. Kindle Edition. 

Related material: Blackboard Jungle in this journal.

See also Galois Space and Solomon's Mines.

"I pondered deeply, then, over the
adventures of the jungle. And after
some work with a colored pencil
I succeeded in making my first drawing.
My Drawing Number One.
It looked something like this:

I showed my masterpiece to the
grown-ups, and asked them whether
the drawing frightened them.

But they answered: 'Why should
anyone be frightened by a hat?'"

The Little Prince

* For the title, see Plato Thanks the Academy (Jan. 3).

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Blackboard Jungle

Filed under: General,Geometry — m759 @ 8:00 am

From a review in the April 2013 issue of
Notices of the American Mathematical Society

"The author clearly is passionate about mathematics
as an art, as a creative process. In reading this book,
one can easily get the impression that mathematics
instruction should be more like an unfettered journey
into a jungle where an individual can make his or her
own way through that terrain."

From the book under review—

"Every morning you take your machete into the jungle
and explore and make observations, and every day
you fall more in love with the richness and splendor
of the place."

— Lockhart, Paul (2009-04-01). A Mathematician's Lament:
How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating and
Imaginative Art Form 
(p. 92). Bellevue Literary Press.
Kindle Edition. 

Related material: Blackboard Jungle in this journal.

See also Galois Space and Solomon's Mines.

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