Fine Structure

Steven Strogatz gets it. He's a professor of applied mathematics at Cornell - but not the kind that talks over your head if you don't have a math degree.

Whenever I write a post about science (with or without math) it's always difficult to decide where to start. Not just from a storyline standpoint but from experience. How much math and science do my readers know? What can I assume they're comfortable with and what will bore them if I gloss over something they don't yet understand? It's not too difficult to decide for this blog. If someone is reading this then they've probably subscribed on purpose or found it through a search and I assume that most people have taken a calculus course, even if they don't remember it all that well.

Strogatz is really being ambitious. He has a new column in the Times about math and he wants to be able to explain hard stuff to everyone. All those mystery symbols will be explained and, hopefully, a few of his readers will be a little more interested in math.

Oh, and he's starting his teaching at 1 + 1. We will definitely be revisiting this.