My research career has taken a somewhat non-linear path, starting in theoretical cosmology and ending up in marine sciences. Each transition has required me to learn new things, and so many years ago I was involved in an Antarctic Field Training Course run by the US National Science Foundation. The course was highly interdisciplinary, and […]
Read MoreMathematics rivals theology when it comes to ontological difficulties Mathematics rivals theology when it comes to ontological difficulties; consequently there are today three very different philosophical positions that can be taken. Platonists assert that there is an intangible but intelligible world of mathematical objects, and that the business of the mathematician is to explore this […]
Read MoreA professor of Business Innovation and an experienced entrepreneur, Dick Whittington reflects on a weakness of STEM degree programmes in the modern world – and how he’s addressing it with his textbook Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Read MoreIt is interesting to reflect upon how physics – a science heavily dependent on the language of mathematics – trains its future generations in that discipline. The role of mathematics in physics has changed profoundly in the last few decades. Quantum mechanics, condensed matter physics, particle physics, and other sub-disciplines now routinely work at levels […]
Read MoreFollowing moving to partial retirement from my full time position at the University of Waikato, I decided to undertake a range of “extracurricular” activities. These included participating in a Board of Inquiry into a potential inland port on the university doorstep, although I have since decided to move on to greener pastures. I had been […]
Read MoreFor the 100th anniversary of Richard Feynman's birth Tony Hey author of The New Quantum Universe 2nd Edition, 2003 looks at the accomplishments and legacy of this infamous physicist as well as his personal and professional history with Richard Feynman
Read MoreEsther Klein (later Esther Szekeres) famously observed that five points in the plane with no three in line must contain the vertices of a convex quadrilateral. Similarly, nine points in the plane with no three in line must contain the vertices of a convex pentagon, and more generally for every n there exists a larger […]
Read MoreAuthor Kevin Broughan details what led him to write GL(n)pack, software which goes with Dorian Goldfeld's 'Automorphic forms and L-functions for the group GL(n,R)', and what makes this work different from other texts on the topic.
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