Efficiency for Simplifying Mathematical ... For years now I have been promoting, to all of my mathematics classes, the simplification of algebraic expressions as an exercise in recognition and efficiency. Over the last few days, I am thinking I may have to drop the efficiency argument. I am now having doubts about the validity of this effort....

Diametrically Opposed Points on a Circle... Just this last week my colleague and friend Stan introduced me to a most interesting statement. Stan told me that if a person were to draw a circle of any diameter on any map, that at any moment in time there exists on that circle, at least two diametrically opposed points at which the temperatures are...

Note Frequencies in Come Monday – Lis... One of my favorite songs of all times is Jimmy Buffett’s Come Monday. Here is visual proof that I like it. Denny's shoes As I suspect you have, I too have been curious about the mathematics of the songs I like. A few weeks ago I looked into some of the mathematics of Come Monday. On February 22, 2009,...

If the Earth Explodes this Spring, Could... This last Thursday I gave an exam to my algebra class and while just sitting at the front table waiting for the students to finish, I started wondering what conditions would allow me to be in Las Vegas sometime in the future if the Earth was to explode this spring. I wrote down a few numbers and, after...