Year: 2024
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Opening Disclaimer In the graphs below, I have used the data from the relevant sources and may or may not have performed simple mathematical operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division) on the data. The purpose of this is to obscure the factor being discussed, before revealing it, while ensuring that the essential shape of the…
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Grasping for the Absurd Anyone who has studied mathematics till at least the middle school will know that there are certain mathematical ‘artifacts’ called ‘proofs’. Whether we understand them or not, proofs form one of the foundational structures of mathematics, allowing us to take one idea and extend it logically in a variety of directions…
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Fractions and the Loss of Information In my previous post, I had looked at what is gained and more importantly what is lost as we expand the set of numbers we work with. The discussion in that post centered around the closure property of sets of numbers with respect to various mathematical operations. We saw…
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Numerical Predicament Numbers are one of the first things we are introduced to in our lives. It is quite likely that our parents introduced us to them, either when reading a book to us or when helping us play with some kind of toys. Very soon after this we are introduced to the idea of…
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Key Questions I had planned something else for the post I would release today. However, with the 2024 General Elections in India around the corner, a few people have asked me, “Does my vote count?” and “Does my vote matter?” These may seem to be the same question. However, they are decidedly different, as we…
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Importance of Calling a Spade a Spade Ok, ok! Don’t get all wound up with the title of this post. There will be no kidnapping involved. Nor will any of you be held for ransom. It’s just that I think sometimes mathematicians seem to have some strange inclination for choosing terminology that will shoot them…
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Fun with Numbers – and Words Today is Good Friday. So, in the other part of my life as a pastor things are quite serious today. So I thought I would post something with a more light hearted tone here. As the reader would know, I teach mathematics. This is in part because, at a…
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The Initial Trauma It was almost twenty years ago when I first heard the statement. It shocked me then. No, to be true to what I felt, it was as though someone had punched me in the gut. I felt a visceral response to the statement. And even today when I hear similar statements, it…
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Launching Pad I launched this blog on Friday, 1 March 2024. I knew that I wanted to have a post specifically for International Women’s Day on Friday, 8 March 2024, which became Primordial Prime Ordinals. So I had planned something else as my third post for this blog. However, after the first post, The Eye…
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Personal Experiences This post is of a more personal nature and really does not deal with mathematics per se. Rather, it uses my experiences as a student and teacher of mathematics as a springboard to talk about women in the field of mathematics. For as long as I can remember, I have been reasonably adept…
Acutely Obtuse 