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How to Get Rich
A few years ago, billionaire David Koch donated $25 million to his alma mater, Deerfield Academy. From his presentation speech: You might ask: How does David Koch happen to have the wealth to be so...
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The Noble Savage
Leonard Jimmie Savage was a pioneer in modern decision theory and a disciple of Frank Plumpton Ramsey, whose story occupies the final chapter of The Big Questions. In 1954, Savage wrote a lovely and...
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Relatively Speaking
With a hat tip to our occasional commenter Ron…. Remember those faster-than-light neutrinos? The ones that threatened to overturn relativity, and along with it everything we think we know about how...
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Touched by Greatness
I continue to be bowled over daily by the high quality of the discussion at MathOverflow, and the prominence of many of the frequent participants. But this one was special: A newbie poster asked for a...
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Loose Ends
I’m eager to summarize the (largely excellent) discussion of last week’s nightmares and to talk about what it all means. I’ll surely get to that in the next few days. But meanwhile, we have another...
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Chain Reaction
If you study economics, or statistics, or chemistry, or mathematical biology, or thermodynamics, you’re sure to encounter the notion of a Markov chain — a random process whose future depends...
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So That’s Why It’s Called Graphic Design
A few years back, the British Office of Government Commerce wanted a new logo for etching on (among other things) mousepads and pens, and paid a graphic design firm over $20,000 to come up with this:...
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A Sip of Monstrous Moonshine
You and a stranger have been instructed to meet up sometime tomorrow, somewhere in New York City. You (and the stranger) can decide for yourselves when and where to look for each other. But there can...
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The Ballmer Legacy
I just tried to log into my Hotmail account and got a message saying that for security reasons, I have to enter a code, which will be sent to the mobile number or email address of my choice. So I typed...
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Walter Oi, 1929 – 2013
A long time ago, when I had just started teaching at the University of Rochester, a blind man marched into my office, adopted a commanding stance, and announced in a booming voice that “it takes 150...
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This Would Be a Great Illustration of Comparative Advantage if It Weren’t...
Paul A.M. Dirac was a pioneer of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. His work pervades all of modern physics. He was, by almost all accounts, one of the top 10 physicists of all time, and by...
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Antonin Scalia
My favorite Scalia story is from Ted Cruz’s book A Time for Truth. This took place in 1986, when the departure of Warren Burger had created a vacancy on the Supreme Court, and it was clear that...
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Wednesday Mystery
This is a true story. The names have been changed and some personal details have been blurred by request. In the American heartland, there lives a university professor named Fletcher. Like most...
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Some History Lessons
A bit of history: One day in the 16th century, a student at Oxford University was sitting in the woods reading a volume of Aristotle, when he was attacked by a wild boar. The student saved himself by...
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