Beyond Euclid - #123
Welcome to Beyond Euclid #123, the newsletter for the best mathematics and science stuff of the week. I am Ali, and I curate cool math and science stuff every week to help you have a better week.
📰 Hey, Ali is here. And I brought you the good internet once again. I hope you enjoy it. If you appreciate the work I do, please consider being a paid subscriber. I truly value your support. While reading this issue, you can listen to I Can See Clearly Now from Johnny Nash.
• There is a widespread belief that: If students understand what mathematics is for in life, they will like mathematics more, they will be more interested in mathematics, they will work harder and be more successful...
It is not true at all, not even a little bit true. We have a lot of evidence that this view is not true. For example, does a young person like music because it will be useful to them in life? For example, every young person knows the benefits of sports, but are they all fond of sports? Or does a young person who plays soccer do it because it is useful, or because it is fun, enjoyable, pleasant, ecstatic?
We don't love something because it is useful. First of all, we love it for its beauty, because it makes us happy, because it is good for us, because it makes us ecstatic.
It won't make you love mathematics, but let me tell you what mathematics is good for.
Mathematics is useless, mathematics is very useful, even useful for everything... It is useful for so many things that it is impossible to say what it is good for. Carpentry is useful for a limited number of things, for making tables, chairs, cabinets, but mathematics is not like that.
Mankind has so far found no other way to understand this world, this nature, this universe and to convince others than logic and mathematics. Both the world in which we find ourselves at birth and the world we create later on can be understood through mathematics. Any structure in which there is a certain order, a certain balance, can be understood with mathematics. There is no other way... Where mathematics is not enough, philosophy, faith, principles are used. But anyone who uses something else where mathematics is sufficient is called a bigot.
Mathematics serves to convince, but it is more than that: Mathematics convinces any sane person that we can be convinced: It goes beyond "I understand that this is true, I am convinced" and makes one say, "I can explain this to any sane person, and they will be convinced as I am convinced." In other words, mathematics is common sense. In other words, mathematics is common sense.
Mathematics claims to be a mental model of the universe we live in. For example, we understand how earthquake-resistant a building will be on the Richter scale not by shaking the building, but after conducting a field study or two, at a desk, with pencil and paper, with calculations, in other words, with mathematics. We use logic and mathematics to make decisions in commerce, politics, human relations, sports and even art, in short, wherever there is reasoning and balance.
Art and philosophy, like mathematics, are not useful for one thing, but for everything. They are so all-encompassing, their utility is so wide-ranging, that you cannot say, "Oh, that's what they do." For example, what has understanding art, knowing Picasso, Klee, having read Dostoevsky, listening to Brahms ever done for you? Nothing, of course, but it has helped everything, it has made you a completely different person.
In backward countries like Turkey, if a field of endeavor has no direct and immediate benefit, it is despised, belittled and humiliated. That is why we have established villages of art, philosophy and mathematics, which are believed to be good for nothing, but are good for everything.
The only way out of the middle income trap we are stuck in is through more mathematics and more science.
There is only one truth in mathematics. Mathematics has defined its own truth. Like the chess problems of "checkmate in two moves"... In this way, there is no fighting in mathematics, there is discussion, exchange of ideas, persuasion. Have you ever seen a mathematician biting his opponent's leg or giving him a flying kick? Neither have I. But have you ever seen a politician? Yes, this happened, two MPs who had a difference of opinion in the Parliament got into a fight, one bit the other's leg, another one kicked the other one with a flying kick... Be sure that those politicians did not know math... Even if mathematics is useless, it teaches what it means to search for the truth, shows how to reach the truth, makes you realize the difficulty of reaching the truth.
When we compare mental mathematics with real life, we realize how vague the truth is in life, how difficult it is to reach the truth in life, and that sometimes there is no absolute truth. So we become more open to opposing ideas, we understand the importance of persuasion and listening to the other.
Mathematics is not just calculus, it is also a lesson in democracy when taught correctly.
These words belong to my beloved teacher, mathematician Ali Nesin.
• Richard Feynman: The Man Who Only Used His Intellect to Enjoy Life. I have republished one of my Medium post about Richard Feynman after two years. It is a long read but it has so many cool things about Feynman. I hope you enjoy reading it.
• This is the divorce complaint of Richard Feynman's second wife. She literally hates calculus. 👀
• Lagrangian standard model. The longest equation in math and physics.
• I've mentioned before that the eclipse will pass exactly through the city where I live. So I am very, very lucky. Below is the 'Total Eclipse: Where and When' table prepared by NASA for us. It is a very useful table.
• The researcher, Steve Dutch, noticed that cumulus clouds suddenly cleared just before a solar eclipse, allowing perfect views of the event. His research explains that cumulus clouds dissipate when the moon begins to block as little as 15% of the sun during an eclipse. This is due to the cooling of the Earth's surface, which slows the rising warm air and water vapor that forms these clouds.
However, clouds over the ocean are unaffected, as the ocean cools slower than land. Other cloud types aren't as sensitive to the cooling and don't dissipate during eclipses.
• The number of objects launched into space last year reached a record-breaking 2,664, with the US responsible for 81% of launches. This figure rose by almost 200 compared to the previous year, according to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. The rise in launches has been attributed to lower costs of launching, cheaper parts for satellites and spacecraft, and the growth of private space companies like SpaceX.
Elon Musk's SpaceX was responsible for over 80% of commercial US launches in 2023.Â
• Periodic table by era of discovery. It is really interesting that scientists have discovered 5 new elements since 2000 and completed the 7th row of the periodic table.
• I found something super cool for the people who love reading. It is called Boox Palma, and it is a phone-shaped e-reader. I really love e-ink technology, and I am thinking of replacing my Kindle with this guy.
• US Teachers spent $3.24 billion of their own money on classroom expenses in 2023. The educator expense deduction is capped at just $300 for the 2023 tax year, failing to keep up with inflation or actual expenses.
On average, teachers spent $853.90 out of pocket on school supplies in 2023, setting a new record for the highest amount ever reported. Teachers are spending nearly 2.8 times more on classroom supplies than they can deduct.
• Numbr is a smart calculator combined with a notepad. It is very simple but also extremely useful!
• These days, I listen to Dostoevsky's 'Crime and Punishment' on my way home from work. It gives me great pleasure. Of course, I am also researching this great writer's life, and I came across something very interesting.
Dostoevsky was born in Moscow in 1821 and introduced to literature at a young age. In 1849, Dostoevsky was sentenced to death by firing squad for belonging to a literary group that discussed banned books criticizing the Tsarist Russian government. However, moments before his execution, the Tsar commuted his sentence to four years in a Siberian prison camp.
After serving his hard labor sentence in Siberia, Dostoevsky spent six more years in compulsory military service in exile before eventually returning to writing. He was only allowed to read his New Testament Bible during that period.
• Replacing older, pre-1990 school buses with newer buses improved student academic performance based on standardized test scores. Students in districts awarded EPA funding to replace old buses scored 0.06 SD higher in reading and 0.03 SD higher in math after the replacement. The effects were seen for average district scores, though earlier studies found stronger impacts for students with asthma.
• According to a study from the University of Gothenburg, knitting has been found to have significant benefits for people with mental health issues. The activity promotes calmness and structure in individuals' lives, improving overall health and quality of life. The study, published in the Journal of Occupational Science, collected 600 posts from an online knitting forum to analyze how knitters perceive the impact of their hobby on their mental health. Many participants reported improved mental processes while knitting, which helped them think more clearly and manage their thoughts better.
By the way, this is just an analysis of online posts.
• A study by researchers at Georgia State University School of Public Health found that trees and bushes planted near highways can significantly reduce air pollution caused by motor vehicles. Over several months, they sampled air quality at sites with and without vegetation along Atlanta interstates and highways. Sites with natural or ornamental vegetation saw a 37% reduction in soot and a 7% reduction in ultrafine particles.
• A study in Minnesota found that over half (55%) of clinical diagnoses of chickenpox made by healthcare providers based on symptoms alone were incorrect. Laboratory testing showed many patients actually had different illnesses.
Of the total 420 suspected cases tested, including self-diagnoses, only 37% confirmed varicella virus, while others had enterovirus, herpes, or were negative.
• Good news! The Getty recently made nearly 88,000 art images freely available for download under a Creative Commons license. Users can now download and use high-resolution images of works in the Getty collection without restrictions. The collection includes famous pieces by artists like Van Gogh, Monet, Mondrian, and others.