Nerd Alert!!

Ok, I think everyone (who?) can agree I have done a good job of not talking about math. I am about to fail, now, though in very non-technical way, so click away if you can't stand a touch of nerdiness (and not in the chic-hipster-nerd way).

One of the most hilarious things in math are the names that we give things. Sometimes they are awesome, like "annihilator", which actually represents what the thing does, i.e. annihilators really do annihilate or kill things. Sometimes they are just suggestive, like "homomorphism" and "bump function"--say this one ten times fast. Sometimes they are downright ridiculous, so ridiculous you never want to say the name to a professor, like the "Hairy Ball Theorem". Of course there is a logical explanation for this name--but still.

When you are working with these things on a daily basis, you just have to stop and laugh at yourself from time to time (that's what this post is). For example, there is a surface (geometric shape) called the "saddle":

This name makes sense, as it looks like enough like a saddle. The next one, though, is called a "monkey saddle". It gets its name because it's almost a saddle, but allows a space at the back for the tail of whoever or whatever is sitting in it, and not just any tail, a monkey's tail. Who says mathematicians aren't complete lunatics?

walk in my mind, walk in my day

Which one goes where?

Sometimes, "Hello" Is Enough, Sometimes....

Running a Country is Harder Than Teaching Calculus

In the wake of an election, I have to express one thought. To all those who like the idea of "someone just like me" running things in Washington, chew on this: running a country is (much) harder than teaching calculus. In fact, running a country is harder than teaching the fundamentals of geometric invariants for manifolds in arbitrary dimension--whatever that means, but you get the point.

While most would recoil at the thought of having to teach their own children, or someone else's kid calculus, (most people simply recoil at the word "calculus"), they love the idea of someone equally ill-prepared-for-the-job running the country.

I have a suggestion. Just like we tend to ask those who understand calculus teach calculus, let's let those that understand diplomacy, economics, history, civics, etc., run the country.