Inspired by Math!

Through the math education world Maria has become a wonderful friend. Maria is working tirelessly to start a mass math movement. We discuss her kickstarter project that has authored a book, Moebius Noodles, of advanced math ideas for toddlers and their parents, what math is, what math literacy is, the connection between math and computer programming, her Math Future project, and more.

Jason Ermer has spearheaded the Collaborative Mathematics project at collaborativemathematics.org. I interview Jason about what the project is, what inspired him, what the response so far has been and what he is hoping to accomplish.

Erica Klarreich has been writing about mathematics and science for a popular audience for more than ten years. We talk about her relationship with math, how she defines the subject, her relationship to it, problems with how math is taught in school, one of her favorite articles, her perception of the outlook for math writers, and more.

Julie Rehmeyer writes about mathematics and science for Science News, Wired, Discover and other magazines. Julie and I discuss a bunch of things. Do you have a story of when you first realized that you really liked math? How did you get into writing about math and science? Have you always been a writer? Tell us about your math education and how that's served your writing career. You've written quite a number of articles for Science News and for Wired Magazine. Where do your ideas for articles come from? And, what's your secret for weaving mathematical ideas into interesting stories? Would you share your process of going from an idea to a completed article? What's the interaction like with the publisher? How long does it take to write an article? What's your writing process like? What's a typical day like? Is there a favorite article or two among the many you've written? I notice that there are very few women math communicators. Why is that? And, which other women should I try to interview for this series? What advice would you give to girls and young women (or really anyone) who think they might want to become math writers? The question I ask everyone: What advice would you give to a parent whose child was struggling with math in school?

Dave Richeson is a mathematician, math professor, and math blogger. He loves topology and geometry among other things. He's taught inquiry-based math which engages students to the n-th degree, he wrote a book for Princeton University Press "Euler's Gem," about Euler's polyhedron formula, he's working on a new book about four classic construction problems, and he's finishing up an article "Who first proved that C/d is a constant?" We discuss all these things on this podcast.

Shecky Riemann is the blogger at Math-Frolic and now also at MathTango! He and I frolic through a number of subjects, getting to know who Shecky is, about his love of math, where he gets so many ideas for articles, how he and I are alike and different, what books and authors he likes the most, and more ...

Why is spherical trigonometry a lost art? What is "Heavenly Mathematics" about and what background is needed to learn the material? To you spherical trigonometry is an exquisite branch of mathematics. How so? What calculations could be performed accurately a few hundred years ago, or earlier? What techniques are used to determine the size of the earth, or the distance to the moon? What is the most elegant theorem of spherical trigonometry? How is spherical trigonometry important today in the context of modern technology? Is there a next book? What advice would you give to a parent whose child was struggling with math?

Dr. Devlin and I discuss his "Introduction to Mathematical Thinking" MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) in great detail. 64,000 students registered for the very challenging course, although most didn't finish. What made the course challenging? How did grading work? How was support provided? What role did community play in the course? Why was this MOOC more like Facebook than Youtube? How might universities use MOOCs in the future to find the brightest students they might not find otherwise? How can MOOCs level the playing field in education? What's the next big thing for Dr. Devlin?

Keith Devlin (Part II) - Inspired by Math #17

Steven Strogatz (Part II) - Inspired by Math #16

How did you become a NYT columnist? How did "The Joy of x" get such a clever title? How did you get inspired by math? What makes you such a great math communicator? Who has influenced you? Tell us about one of your other books, "The Calculus of Friendship." Is there a next project? What advice would you give to a parent whose child was struggling with math?

[ Note: Audio quality choppy in places. We did the best we could. ] What motivated you to edit "Best Writing on Mathematics?" How did you pick 24 articles to include from thousands? Who is your audience? What makes a piece of writing beautiful the way a painting or a proof is beautiful? Tell us a bit about your life and how you first became interested in math. What advice would you give to a parent whose child struggled with math?

I ask Dr. Stewart to share his inspiration and enthusiasm about mathematics. Where do the ideas and the inspiration for writing your books come from? Where does your love of math and passion for sharing it come from? Is there an early childhood experience that served as a catalyst? What is mathematics to you? What is your favorite branch of mathematics and why? Can you share a story or two about someone who read one of your books and had their attitude towards math change? What do you think it is that readers are hungry for that you're feeding? What is your next book? What advice would you give to a parent whose child was struggling with math?

Dr. Posamentier and I explore triangles: what is so special about them? Why a book about them? We discuss secondary school geometry education. Why didn't I and many others get a good geometry education? How is geometry a different beast from other branches of math? What advice would Dr. Posamentier give to parents whose kids are struggling with math? And more!

Ed Burger is co-author, with Michael Starbird, of a delightfully thoughtful Princeton University Press book about thinking, The Five Elements of Effective Thinking. While the book is not specific to Math, there's plenty of thinking in all things mathematical plus my interviewee is a Math professor and a remarkably engaging one at that!I had a list of questions to ask Dr. Burger but I found myself straying from my plan because Ed's answers inspired other lines of inquiry. I experienced a number of aha's during our chat. If you're a parent or student you might gain some valuable insights about how you can improve your relationship with Math, and ultimately your grades.As a voracious thinker I thought I knew a lot about the subject of this book. I'm humbled and grateful to have much to think about after this interview. Enjoy!