The Best Writing on Mathematics 2010

Credits

“The Role of the Untrue in Mathematics” by Chandler Davis. First published in Mathematical Intelligencer 31 (3) pp. 4–8 (2009). Reprinted by kind permission of Springer Science and Business Media.

“Desperately Seeking Mathematical Proof ” by Melvin Nathanson. First published in Mathematical Intelligencer 31, no. 2 (2009): 8–10. Reprinted by kind permission of Springer Science and Business Media.

“An Enduring Error” by Branko Grünbaum. First published in Elemente der Mathematik 64:2(2009), pp. 89–101. Reprinted by permission.

“What Is Information-Based Complexity?” by Henryk Woźniakowski. First published in Essays on the Complexity of Continuous Problems, ed. Erich Novak, Ian H. Sloan, Joseph Traub, and Henryk Woźniakowski, 89–95. Zurich: European Mathematical Society, 2009. Reprinted by permission.

“What Is Financial Mathematics?” by Tim Johnson. First published in Plus Online Magazine. Reprinted by kind permission of the author.

“If Mathematics Is a Language, How Do You Swear in It?” by David Wagner. First published in The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast 6, no. 3 (2009): 449–58. Reprinted by permission.

“Birds and Frogs” by Freeman Dyson. First published in Notices of the American Mathematical Society 56.2(2009): 212–23_. Reprinted by kind permission of the American Mathematical Society.

“Mathematics Is Not a Game But . . .” by Robert Thomas. First published in Mathematical Intelligencer 31, no. 1 (2009): 4–8. Reprinted by kind permission of Springer Science and Business Media.

“Bridging the Two Cultures: Paul Valéry” by Philip J. Davis. First published in Svenska Matematikersamfundet Medlemsutskicket, May 15, 2009. Reprinted by permission.

“A Hidden Praise of Mathematics” by Alicia Dickenstein. First published in Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. (N.S.) 46 (2009), 125–129. Reprinted by kind permission of the American Mathematical Society.

“Mathematics and the Internet: A Source of Enourmous Confusion and Great Potential” by Walter Willinger, David Alderson, and John C. Doyle. First published in Notices of the AMS 56: 5(2009), pp. 586–99. Reprinted by kind permission of the American Mathematical Society.

“The Higher Arithmetic: How to Count to a Zillion without Falling Off the Number Line” by Brian Hayes. First published in American Scientist 97.5(2009): 364–68. Reprinted by permission.

“Knowing When to Stop: How to Gamble If You Must—The Mathematics of Optimal Stopping” by Theodore P. Hill. First published in American Scientist 97.2(2009): 126–33. Reprinted by permission.

“Homology: An Idea Whose Time Has Come” by Barry A. Cipra. First published in SIAM News, 42.10(2009). Reprinted by permission of the author.

“Adolescent Learning and Secondary Mathematics” by Anne Watson. First published in Proceedings of the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group/Groupe canadien d’étude en didactique des mathématiques, 21–29. Burnaby, BC: CMESG/GCEDM, 2009. Reprinted by permission of the author.

“Accommodations of Learning Disabilities in Mathematics Courses” by Kathleen Ambruso Acker, Mary W. Gray, and Behzad Jalali. Originally published in Notices of the AMS 56.9(2009): 1072–80. Reprinted by kind permission of the American Mathematical Society.

“Audience, Style, and Criticism” by David Pimm and Nathalie Sinclair. First published in For the Learning of Mathematics 29, no. 2 (2009): 23–28. Reprinted by permission.

“Aesthetics as a Liberating Force in Mathematics Education?” by Nathalie Sinclair. First published in ZDM Mathematics Education 41 (2009): 45–60. Reprinted by kind permission of Springer Science and Business Media.

“Mathematics Textbooks and Their Potential Role in Supporting Misconceptions” by Ann Kajander and Miroslav Lovric. First published by Taylor and Francis Ltd. (http://www.informaworld.com) in International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology 40, no. 2 (2009): 173–81. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

“Exploring Curvature with Paper Models” by Howard T. Iseri. Reprinted with permission from Understanding Geometry for a Changing World, copyright 2009 by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. All rights reserved.

“Intuitive vs Analytical Thinking: Four Perspectives” by Uri Leron and Orit Hazzan. First published in Educational Studies in Mathematics 71, no. 3 (2009): 263–78. Reprinted by kind permission of Springer Science and Business Media.

“Why Did Lagrange ‘Prove’ the Parallel Postulate?” by Judith V. Grabiner. First published in American Mathematical Monthly 116:1 (2009), pp. 3–18. Copyright the Mathematical Association of America 2010. All rights reserved.

“Kronecker’s Algorithmic Mathematics” by Harold M. Edwards. First published in Mathematical Intelligencer 31(2), pp. 11–14 (2009). Reprinted by kind permission of Springer Science and Business Media.

“Indiscrete Variations on Gian-Carlo Rota’s Themes” by Carlo Cellucci. First published in Combinatorics to Philosophy: The Legacy of G.-C. Rota, pp. 211–228 (2009). Reprinted by kind permission of Springer Science and Business Media.

“Circle Packing: A Personal Reminiscence” by Philip L. Bowers. First published in Bulletin of the AMS 46.3(2009): 511–25. Reprinted by kind permission of the American Mathematical Society.

“Applying Inconsistent Mathematics” by Mark Colyvan. First published in New Waves in Philosophy of Mathematics edited by Otávio Bueno and Øystein Linnebo, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) pp. 160–72. Reprinted by kind permission of Palgrave Macmillan.

“Why Do We Believe Theorems?” by Andrzej Pelc. First published in Philosophia Mathematica 17, no. 3 (2009): 84–94. Reprinted by kind permission of Oxford University Press.

“Mathematicians Solve 45-Year-Old Kervaire Invariant Puzzle” by Erica Klarreich. First published by the Simons Foundation, July 20, 2009. Reprinted by permission of the Simons Foundation.

“Darwin: The Reluctant Mathematician” by Julie Rehmeyer. First published in Science News Online, February 11, 2009. Reprinted with Permission of Science News.

“Loves Me, Loves Me Not (Do the Math)” by Steven Strogatz. New York Times Online, May 26, 2009. © 2009 by the New York Times. All rights reserved. Used by permission and protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States. The printing, copying, redistribution, or retransmission of the Material without express written permission is prohibited.

“The Mysterious Equilibrium of Zombies and Other Things Mathematicians See at the Movies” by Samuel Arbesman. Boston Globe, September 6, 2009. Reprinted by permission of the author.

“Strength in Numbers: On Mathematics and Musical Rhythm” by Vijay Iyer. The Guardian, October 15, 2009. Copyright Guardian News & Media Ltd 2009.